Another chance
by kath-lee15
Summary: What if Lucas had not returned when he left with Keith at the end of season one. Lucas' gone, Peyton and Brooke are friends again. What happens when Lucas reaches out to Peyton. What will she do? Is she ready to finally give them a chance?
1. Chapter 1

Peyton was hanging out in her room listening to music while waiting for Brooke. The two of them were going to go to the mall. Peyton was thrilled that things were getting better between her and Brooke, they were friends again and had spent a lot of time together in the last 2 weeks since Lucas had left. They had decided not to read the letter he had sent them so as not to cause trouble between them again and now things were good. Peyton was thinking about all this when she heard a knock on the door, she turned around thinking it was Brooke.

-"Hey you're earl…", "Oh! Hi Haley". Peyton was a bit uncomfortable. She hadn't seen Haley since Lucas had left.

-"Hey Peyton. Do you have a minute".

-"Eh! Yeah sure. I'm waiting for Brooke but yeah"

-"Maybe I'll come back later, I mean if you're waiting for Brooke and all".

-"Come on Haley what's up?", asked Peyton. She was a little worried, Haley was acting weird, well weirder than usual.

-"Hum, I got this letter this morning, from Lucas." Haley looked up at Peyton whose smile had now completely faded.

-"Haley, I don't want to…"

-"I know. But the thing is that in the letter he asked me to give you something, a letter, and well I think he knows you well enough because he asked me to make sure that you actually read it, and well I called him and told him a would so here we are." Haley finished.

-"Hales, I…"

-"Look, I promise all you have to do is read the letter and then go on with your day, I mean it's not like you're still in love with him or anything. You have nothing to lose. Right?" Haley questioned,

-"Yeah. I mean I'm so over him", Haley knew Peyton was lying because she wouldn't look at her.

-"Fine, Then read the letter," Haley challenged Peyton. She knew she shouldn't have pushed but she had promised Lucas and she did not want to let him down. Their friendship was already hanging on a thread as it was with him in Charleston.

-"Fine", and with that Peyton took the letter Haley was holding out to her.

-_Peyton,_

_I'm sorry I had to go through Haley to get you this, but I assumed that after the way I treated you, you wouldn't want to hear anything I had to say. Before I left, I left a letter for you and Brooke on your door, but I don't know whether or not you read it so I'm going to say it again. I'm sorry. I made I lot of mistakes, I guess my life changed so fast I did not deal with it very well, but that's no excuse for hurting you. I want you to know that this was the last thing I wanted. I was scared, of you, of us, of what I knew we could be. Even after I told you I wasn't scared anymore. I still was and that's why I screwed everything up. I know that there is nothing I can do to make you give me another chance, but I still want to change. That's why I left, I want to become a better man, a man that would be good enough for you. When I am, I'll come back for you, when this time come I hope you give me another chance. Until then I would love to keep writing to you about stuff, it makes me feel closer to you, so I'm asking you, if you don't want me to, all you have to do is send back this letter to the return address on the envelop and I'll get the message and stop writing to you. So I guess this is it, that's all I wanted to say I'm sorry for hurting you and I hope to write to you again._

_I love you_

_Yours forever_

_Lucas xoxox_

-Peyton read the letter over and over again until she was snapped out of her trance by the sound of somebody coming up the stairs. She looked up and realized that Haley wasn't there anymore. She did not have time to contemplate this fact because she realised that it was probably Brooke coming up. She looked back at the letter in her hands. She knew the right thing to do would have been to tell Brooke about it, but instead Peyton ran to her record collection and tucked the letter into one of the album before going back into the room to find Brooke standing there.

-"Hey best friend. Ready for the mall"

-"Hum., yeah, I was waiting for you", Peyton answered hopping that Brooke wouldn't realise the state she was in after reading that letter. Unfortunately, she did.

-"Peyton what's wrong?" Brooke asked sincerely. Peyton felt worse looking at Brooke, but she was scared of what Brooke would say if she did show her the letter or tell her anything about it. Brooke was still not completely over the betrayal and Peyton understood that, but she felt that this was something personal between her and Lucas.

-"Nothing. It's just Haley was just here and she left kind of quickly", she felt horrible for lying to Brooke after all the pain it had caused before but she just couldn't let Brooke in on her feelings about Lucas.

-"What was up with that by the way? One day you guys don't speak at all and then first thing I know you guys are like best friends".

-"We are not best friends. You're my best friend, but Haley's my friend. She's just easy to talk to, she's great. We just haven't spent much time together lately, that's all. I miss her."

-"Hum, I'm sorry. Her and I never really talked to each other much, but maybe the three of us could do something. That way I could get to know her." Brooke was being so understanding Peyton wanted to cry. How could she lie to her, again. Part of her was angry at Lucas for putting her in that position yet again. That's when she realised, Lucas had not told her not to mention the letter to Brooke, in fact he had not mentioned Brooke at all. He was not the one putting her in that position, she had put herself there. She was the one who backed off from telling Brooke about her and Lucas' relationship and she was the one who was now lying to Brooke about him. Part of her wanted to leave all of this behind and move on, have fun with Brooke and forget everything about Lucas, but the other, the other part of her, could only think about the fact that he had said he loved her. And that part of her was dying to find out if he meant it and more so how she felt about it and if it changed anything. But she could not do this now, not with Brooke there. She would have to think about this later.

-"Thanks. I'm feeling better now so why don't we go shopping".

-"Ok then, let's go. Brooke happily agreed", and with she took Peyton's hand and led her out of the room while Peyton threw one last look at her room thinking about the letter. She definitely would have to get this letter out of her head for a few hours if she wanted Brooke to believe that she was fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

-Peyton woke up early. She had taken up the habit this summer. Before, nobody would have been able to get her to do anything before at least 11 am, but now here she was up at 7 am. Truth is she was waiting for the mailman. At first she had been upset about hearing from Lucas, but now, hearing from him made her day. After the first letter, the other one had arrived about two week later, then progressively they had come more often till today 3 months later, when she received almost one each day. She loved it, he would tell her about his life, what he was doing, the people he met. They had always had this great connection, but now she felt like she knew him better. She still hadn't told Brooke, or anybody about Lucas' letters, though she felt that Haley knew. Sometime when her Brooke and Haley would come back to her place and she would rush to the mailbox, Haley would throw her this knowing look, but she never brought it up.

-Peyton walked down the stairs and opened her front door to see if the mail had been delivered. She smiled when she noticed one particular envelop. She took the letter and carried it and the others inside then walked back into her room to read it.

-She read the letter. In it Lucas told her about how nervous he was about starting school Monday in a new town and trying out for a new basketball team. Hearing him talk about being anxious about school made her realize that something was wrong with her. Here she was about to start her senior year, with her best friend. It should be the best year of her life but she couldn't care less. When she thought about school all she could think about was the fact that she wouldn't see Lucas there and that with school he wouldn't have has much time to write to her.

-She spent much of the rest of the day thinking about school and Lucas till the point where she needed to get out. She took her car and drove.

-Peyton had no idea how long she had driven or how far until she spotted the indications for the nearest town and realized that she was 5 minutes away from Charleston, where Lucas lived. She wanted more than anything to turn the car around and go back to Tree Hill but something stopped her. She needed answers and she realised that since she had driven all the way over here maybe she was ready to face Lucas and get them.

-She took the exit for Charleston and luckily for her she had read Lucas' letters so many times that she knew his new address by heart, now her only problem was finding it.

-By the time she had found the house it was a little after 8 at night. She had left he house 4 hours ago. She was about to get out of the care when her cell phone rang. Peyton was about to answer it when she realized that it was Brooke. She decided to ignore it. She may have been ready to face Lucas, but Brooke was another matter. She couldn't face her, not yet.

-Seeing Brooke's name on her phone somewhat slowed her down, she wasn't sure if she could do that anymore. She sat in her car pondering what to do whether to go in or not until she realised that she needed to do this, not for Brooke but for herself.

-She got out of the car and slowly walked up the driveway to Lucas' house. She took her courage and knocked on the door.

-She patiently waited for the door to open. Truth is she had no idea how she would react to seeing Lucas again after 3 months when they had not really left things on a good note. She took a deep breath when she saw the door open. God might have been against her or something because it wasn't Lucas who opened the door but his uncle.

-"Peyton", he said surprised. He had heard Lucas talking about her all summer, he was pretty sure that if she was suppose to be visiting he would have heard about it.

-"Hum, hey mister Scott. Is Lucas home?"

-"Oh! I'm sorry Peyton, he's out."

-Peyton was about to leave when Keith stopped her.

-"Peyton, wait", Peyton turned around.

-"If I let you leave Lucas is never going to forget me. He is at the park, there is a basketball court there. He's practicing for the tryouts. Just wait a second, I'll write you direction.". With that he went back into the house leaving a smiling Peyton at the door. So Lucas would be happy to see her. Somehow knowing that reassured her. Maybe things were going to turn up better than she expected.

-Keith came back and handed her a piece of paper. "Here you go. Oh! And by the way would you mention to Lucas that he owes me 10 bucks."

-Peyton took the directions, "Hum, yeah sure", she agreed not really knowing what this was about. "Thanks. Bye".

-Peyton looked up at the address as she walked back to her car. The advantage to the fact that it had taken her merely an hour to find Lucas's home meant that she was familiar with most of the streets she had to take to get to the park.

-It took Peyton about 10 minutes to find the park. From her spot in the parking lot she easily spotted the basketball court a little over 30 feet away.

-It was even easier to find Lucas on the court. There was 6 boys on the court and 3 girls sitting on the bleachers. Lucas was on the court wearing his traditional hoody. No matter where she looked it was like Lucas jumped at her. She checked herself into the mirror one last time before exiting the car. She slowly walked toward the court wondering if she was going to lose her nerve before he noticed her. She was standing beside the court when he finally did.

-Their eyes locked and Peyton froze. He still could do it, look at her and see directly into her soul. She again took a deep breath and stepped onto the court slowly walking toward Lucas who still hadn't moved at all.

-She stopped when she was standing about a foot away from him and his friends.

-"hi Lucas."


	3. Chapter 3

-Lucas was playing ball with his friends at the park. His friends kept telling him that there was no way he wasn't going to make the team but he was still nervous. Playing on the team would really make his life at this new school easier. He caught the ball that was just passed to him and was about to shoot when he saw her.

-"Peyton", he murmured surprised.

-For a moment he thought he was dreaming. He had had this dream so many time where Peyton would walk in and jump in his arms. He knew he wasn't dreaming when he stared into her eyes. He was snapped out of his trance for a second when one of the guys stole the ball away from him, but his eyes snapped right back to her and he realized that she was walking toward him.

-The guys seem to realized that something was wrong because all his friends conglomerated around him even the girls that were sitting on the bleachers.

-"Lucas, Man what's wrong', one of them asked. He did not have time to answer though because Peyton was now standing right in front of them.

-"Hi Lucas". Everybody turned to look at her.

-"Peyton", Lucas repeated. It was the only thing he could come up with. He just couldn't believe that she was standing right there in front of him. He did not have time to come up with something better because apparently his friend Mark had decided to humiliate him.

-"Wait! Man, that's Peyton." He looked over at Peyton. "Can't eat, can't sleep because I'm sooooo in love with her, Peyton. That's the girl you've been moping about all summer. I gotta say you were right, she is hot, Owww". His girlfriend had just punched him in the arm after realizing that Lucas was about to jump at his throat.

-Peyton smiled at that, so Lucas had been talking about her and he was missing her. She was thrown out of her contemplation by another one of Lucas friend.

-"So bro are you going to introduce us or are you going to continue staring at her like an idiot."

-Lucas looked away from Peyton, who he noticed was smiling. "Oh! I'm sorry."

-"Guys this is Peyton. Peyton this is Mark, his girlfriend Shelly, Justin, Sebastian, his girlfriend Sophie, Sean, Patrick and his girlfriend Jenn. They are kind of my friends"

-"Kinda! That hurts man!" Justin answered.

-"Well it's nice to meet you", she looked at Lucas, "Can we talk?"

-"Ummm, Yeah sure." With that he led her away from the rest of the group.

-As they walked they heard Mark once again. "Don't drive her away with all your broodiness man, because I don't know if we can go back to broody Luke", he yelled.

-Peyton smiled, "So brooding hum, seems like they got to know you pretty well"

-Lucas smiled back. It seems that after the shock of the surprise he was finally able to think coherently. "Yeah! well that's me. I don't have you here to make me look like a ray of sunshine"

-"Funny"

-"So, I didn't know you were coming, I would have made sure to be home"

-"Well I didn't know either. What I wanted to talk to you about was…"

-"Wait, would you mind if we talked somewhere else. There's this place that I've really wanted to show you"

-"Yeah sure", Peyton agreed. Truth is, she was grateful for the chance to have more time to figure out what she was going to say.

-"I walked here, so do you want to take your car. It's not that far"

-"Yeah sure. Why don't you drive. I'm not really good at orienting myself in this town."

-Lucas smiled back at her and took the keys she was handing out to him as the two of them got into her car and drove away.

-Lucas had to remind himself that he was driving to stop himself from staring at Peyton all the time. She hadn't said a word since they had gotten into the car and was busy staring out the window, but she seemed to have noticed that he liked staring at her because he would see her smiled a little.

-Frankly he was starting to regret asking her to talk somewhere else. This was killing him, not knowing if her being here was a good or a bad thing. Either way he looked at it. This was really good or really bad. She was either here to tell him that she had moved on and didn't want anything to do with him anymore, which would probably destroy him or she was here because she somehow still had feelings for him. Just thinking about it made him smile. If she was here for him, there was no way he was going to let her split.

-They soon arrived at the spot he had wanted to show her and both of them got out of the car.

-"Wow, this place is great. It's so beautiful", Peyton exclaimed.

-"Yeah, I found this place my first night here. I really wasn't sure that I had made the right decision leaving everything to come here. I was walking around homesick and then I found this place. There was something about the lake and the stars and everything that relaxed me. And finally I felt like everything might end up okay."

-"Well thanks for bringing me here"

-"Hum, Peyton I need to know. You being here, is it a good thing or a bad thing"

-"I don't know, it depends on you".

-"What do you mean?"

-"I, I need to know if you meant what you said in your letters"

-"Everything"

-"At the end of each of your letters you said, you said that you…"she hesitated.

-"I love you"

-"Do you mean it or …"

-"I love you."

-"Okay. Hum…"

-"Peyton, are you here because you, you feel the same?"

-"Lucas"

-"I need to know, one way or another,'

-"I. I, yes", Peyton finished staring at the ground. She looked up just in time to see Lucas who had appeared out of nowhere, grab her face and kiss her.

-Once the surprised had washed off, Peyton really got into the kiss. She had wanted this for so long. Lucas brought her flush against him. His hands were all over her body, it was driving her crazy.

-When they finally broke apart for air, Lucas kept his arms around her, keeping her close.

-"So you were saying?" He joked.

-"I love you", somehow having him smile at her like that made her feel totally safe about her feelings.

-"I love you too", he said again with a smile.

-"So, do you have a girlfriend?" Peyton asked.

-"Other than you, no I don't"

-"Oh! Other than me, Hein!!" she laughed.

-Lucas suddenly became embarrassed, what if she didn't want that. "Oh! Sorry. I just assumed that…"

-"Relax", Peyton smiled. Somehow for him to feel nervous made her feel more confident about this whole thing. "I want to be with you."

-"You think scaring me is funny?» He asked tightening his hold on her waist.

-He did not leave her time to respond before he started tickling her.

-"Stop, Stop it. Fine, I'm your girlfriend, okay", she pleaded laughing,

-"That's why I love you. You always fold", Lucas kissed her softly before she could argue with him.

-"So" Peyton started, "How does this work"

-"What?"

-"This relationship"

-"Oh! Well we try the long distance thing. You know you can come here one weekend and I go to Tree hill the other. If that doesn't work than I'll move back to Tree Hill. We'll make this work, I promise."

-"Okay", Peyton agreed burying her face into his shirt

-Lucas felt Peyton shiver a little. "Come let's get back into the car", he suggested.

-The two of them walked back toward the car. Lucas opened the car door for her.

-When the two of them were confortably sitting in the car, Lucas looked over at Peyton who was resting her head on his chest.

-"So i guess i'll see you again next friday in Tree Hill. I have tryout but i'll be there before midnight i promise."

-"Look it's all right, i can come back here i mean it's not a problem. I wouldn't mind coming here every weekend. You have enough already with basketball, it wouldn't be fair." Peyton argued.

-Lucas looked down at her, something was wrong.

-"Peyton, is it me or do you not want me to visit you in Tree Hill?"

-"No." Peyton started looking up at him. "It's just that...", she hesitated, but somehow it seemed like Lucas knew. He was always able to read her like a book.

-"You haven't told Brooke about the letters", he enquired.

-Peyton was expecting to see some sort of anger or dissapointment in his face, but to her suprise she saw none. All that she did see was understanding.

-"It's alright. If you don't want anybody to know it's cool. I just... I just don't want to feel like you're ashamed of me or anything."

-"Luke! It's not that. I couldn't be happier that we're finally together. I just, i don't know how to tell Brooke. I don't want to loose her, but at the same time I want to be with you. I just need time to figure out what to do." Peyton tried to make him understand that she wasn't backing out on him, not this time. She had regretted it enough the first time there was no way she was making that mistake again.

-Lucas looked into her eyes. He was trying to see if any part of her was hesitating, but all he saw in her eyes was love and that somehow made it feel completely reasurred.

-"Okay. Take all the time you need. You can tell Brooke and the rest of the gang when you're ready, unitl then we'll see eachother here. Beside, Tree Hill's your town now, it's your decision."

-"Luke, i don't want you to feel left out. They're your friends too."

-"I know, but i don't mind. I won't say anything to Haley or Nathan or anybody for that matter until you tell me your okay with it."

-"It's not for long anyway. Just until i figure out how to break it out to Brooke that you and i are together."

-"Great, but i pay half your gas. There's no way i'm letting you go bankrupt on my account. That's non-negociable." He stated more than asked.

-Peyton started laughing. "I love it when you take charged." She joked.

-"We have a deal?" Luca s asked rubbing his hands on her arm.

-"Deal", and with that she pressed her lips against his sweetly.

-They stayed in the car talking and kissing for a little while until Lucas realized that it was past his curfew and that Keith was going to have his head.

-"Let's drive to your place, and i'll head back to Tree Hill afterward", Peyton suggested. She didn't want to assume that Lucas wanted her to spend the night. They had just started dating.

-"Your kidding right? There's no way you're driving back now, it's late and dark and sorry that's not gonna happen. Beside, i have you all to myself for another day until we start school and i'm not giving that up. Keith won't mind your staying, and anyway your going to have to stay somewhere when you come here every weekend."

-"I know i just, i don't want to impose on your uncle"

-"Your not imposing. I'm bringing you back home with me there's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise, and if Keith doesn't approve, then i'm taking you to an hotel and i'll move back to Tree Hill."

-"Lucas you don't have too."

-"Peyt, i told you. I'm going to make this relationship work. I'm not giving it up, my uncle's either going to get that or he won't. Both way i'm going to see you as much as i possibly can, and well moving to Tree Hill would make me see you everyday so... But i want to try and make this work like this because that would be unfair to my mom and Keith."

-Peyton realized that Lucas was realy serious about this so she agreed and Lucas drove then back to his house to face Keith.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Lucas pulled into the driveway and looked over at Peyton, she was still asleep. She had dozed off a couple minutes only after they had taken of. He considered for a moment waking her up, but decided against it, she just looked so peaceful, he couldn't bring himself to.

-He got out of the car and crossed to the other side where he opened the door and carefully took Peyton into his arms and carried her inside. Lucas opened the front door still being careful not to wake her.

-"Lucas, where were you? You were suppose to be home…" Keith stopped talking when he saw his nephew carrying the blonde in his arms.

-Lucas paused making sure that his uncle hadn't woke Peyton.

-"I'll be right back, I'm just going to put her to bed, then we can talk", Lucas looked at his uncle for approval and then followed the path to his bedroom with his uncle right behind him.

-Keith watched as Lucas carefully removed the blankets from the bed and then gently laid Peyton down. He looked at her as if he was considering something and then took of her shoes and her socks before tucking her in. He removed her hair from her face and softly kissed her forehead and then grazed his lips to hers before getting up and preceding Keith into the kitchen.

-"So, can I safely assume that tonight went well." Keith smiled at Lucas.

-"Yeah it did." Lucas smiled back.

-"Lucas, I'm happy for you, but we need to talk about this. Mainly about her sleeping here"

-"Yeah, I was going to talk to you about that. Peyton and I are going to make this work, we're going to try the long distance thing, we'll be seeing each other on week end. Peyton's not really comfortable with us seeing each other in Tree Hill yet, so she'll be coming here every weekend and well, I was going to ask you if it was okay for you?"

-Keith took a second to consider this. "What if I say no?"

-"Well, then we're stuck with two options. I'm the one who goes over there each weekend, or I move back to Tree Hill. Either way, we're going to be together. I don't want to have to move back right now because it would be unfair to you and my mom for me to go back and forth but I will if I have to if it is what it takes for us to be together. So please uncle Keith", Lucas pleaded with his uncle.

-Keith stared at Lucas. The boy had never seem more serious about anything before and Keith could see that Lucas really loved this girl.

-"Okay, she can sleep here during the weekends, but, only if your mom says it's okay. You're her son, she has a right to know about this. And I need you to swear to me that your going to be responsible, both of you."

-Lucas gave him the biggest smile. "Okay, I swear. I'll call mom tomorrow. You're the best. I'm going to go to bed." Lucas finished before practically skipping back to his room. Keith chuckled before going back to bed as well.

-Lucas smiled as he entered his room. Peyton laid practically in the middle of the bed on her back. Lucas made sure she was still asleep before going into the bathroom to change for the night. As he walked back into the room he went over her and took the covers off of her before carefully taking her into his arms to remove her coat. When he was done he laid her back down making sure she was still asleep. He was thankful at the moment that Peyton was such a heavy sleeper, it would be kind of awkward for her to wake up to him undressing her. He then started taking off her jeans, he figured jeans weren't too comfortable to sleep in. He took them of and then took her clothes and laid them on his desk chair before going into his dressing to get a pair of boxers for her to wear. When he was done he tucked her back in and crossed over to the other side of the bed.

-Lucas laid on his back beside a still sleeping Peyton. He wanted to hold her but didn't want to wake her up. Lucky for him, he didn't have to make a move Peyton did it for him. She rolled over and rested her head on his chest while he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her hair. He was fast asleep soon afterwards.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

-The next morning Peyton woke up early. She considered that maybe it had all been a dream until she felt an arm around her waist. She smiled as she felt his breathing on the back of her neck. The two of them laid tightly intertwined on their sides. Peyton looked around the room and paused when she saw her clothes on Lucas' chair. She then looked down at herself and smiled when she realised that Lucas had undressed her.

-Peyton just laid there wrapped in Lucas' arms until she had to go to the bathroom. She slowly unwrapped herself and got out of the bed. She looked herself up in the mirror and then grabbed Lucas' hoodie that was carelessly thrown on the floor and put it own before heading out.

-Peyton found the bathroom pretty easily but was surprised when she walked out and Keith addressed her.

-"Good morning".

-"Hum, good morning", Peyton answered a little uncomfortable. She did not know whether or not Keith was okay with her staying here or with her being with Lucas.

-"You hungry?" Keith asked her.

-Peyton looked in the direction of Lucas' bedroom. He was still asleep, she should probably let him sleep. "Hum, yeah, starving actually."

-"Well take a seat. I'll give you a plate."

"Thanks", Peyton said as she sat down and Keith put a plate of eggs in front of her.

-Seeing that Peyton seemed uncomfortable Keith decided to address the elephant in the room.

-"I'm happy for you and Lucas by the way."

-"Hum, thanks, I guess."

-"Lucas and I, we also had a talk after he put you down to bed. I told him that I don't have a problem with you spending the weekends here as long as the both of you are responsible and that his mom approves."

-Peyton took a deep breath. So Lucas had asked Keith and he had said yes. She was relieved, maybe things were going to work out for once. "Thank you".

-"It's my pleasure. Beside you make Lucas happy."

-"Yes she does." The two of them turned around to see Lucas standing in the doorway. He looked like he had just woken up.

-"Hey, How did you sleep". Keith asked his nephew.

-"Great", Lucas looked over at Peyton while he made his way toward them, "best night of sleep ever", he smiled at her.

-"Want some breakfast?", Keith asked Lucas.

"Yeah sure", Lucas agreed before gently kissing Peyton forehead. "Good morning".

-"Good morning", she said back. Going back to eating her breakfast as Lucas took a seat beside her and Keith brought him a plate.

-Keith sat back down. "So, what are your plans for the day?" he asked the two teenagers.

-"Well, I was thinking I'd show Peyton around town and then we need to go shopping, and well afterwards I don't know." Lucas spoke.

-"So no practicing. With the tryouts starting tomorrow I thought."

-"I don't know maybe later tonight", he knew Peyton wasn't really a fan of basketball he didn't want her to be bored.

-"So Peyton, I have to go, I have work but I assume I'll see you next Friday at the ceremony", Keith started as he gathered his plate to put it in the dishwasher.

-"What ceremony?", Peyton asked confused.

-"Oh! Lucas didn't tell you? I assumed he would have. The school is having some sort of ceremony where they present the new teams for the year. That's when we'll find out if Lucas made the team."

-"Yeah sure. I'll be there", Peyton was surprised Lucas hadn't told her about this. Obviously this was very important to him and yet he had not even mentioned it. "What time is it at?"

-"It starts at seven. Just meat us here, we'll drive there together." Keith said before exiting the room. "Lucas I'll see you tonight. Make sure you call your mom, okay."

-"Yeah, sure".

-As soon as Keith left the room Lucas looked over at Peyton who seemed particularly interested in her empty plate.

-"Peyt", he started.

-"Why didn't you tell me? Is it because you don't want me there?", she asked emotionally.

-"No, of course not. I want you there. I just, what if I don't make it? I mean, it would be hard enough for me to be rejected. I just don't know if I could go through that in front of you. I don't want to disappoint you." Lucas finished without looking at her.

-Peyton stared at Lucas before getting up and carefully sitting herself on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck

-"Lucas, Lucas look at me", she pleaded. Lucas slowly made eye contact with her.

-"I'm sure your going to make the team. But even if by some miracle you didn't, I wouldn't be disappointed in you. I love you, whether you play varsity basketball or not. I just don't want you to keep things from me okay. If you don't want me there I won't go but just tell me the truth."

-"Your right. I'm sorry. I should have told you. I want you there if I don't make it your possibly the only thing that could make me feel better, but are you sure you can make it. I mean you'd have to leave Tree Hill pretty early."

-"I'll make it work, don't worry."

-"Hum, Peyt", Lucas started.

-"What?"

-"You know speaking of not keeping things from each other. We never really talked about Nicky."

-"Lucas, you don't need", Peyton stiffened in his arms.

-"Wait, yes I do. With us doing the long distance thing I want you to know that you can trust me. I would never cheat on you. Me sleeping with her it was a mistake. I was upset about what had happened with you, the accident, and I was angry that I couldn't play. I got drunk and well Nicky she wanted me and well I guess I just wanted to feel wanted, but that's no excuse. I just want you to know that I would never."

-"I know. Beside, we both made mistakes before, I think we need to start with a clean slate. And by the way, you can trust me too. I think we'll be fine, as long as we keep telling each other everything."

-"You're right. It's a deal." He said before taking her lips with his.

-When they broke the kiss Lucas kept his hand in her hair. "By the way, you look so hot in my clothes." He laughed.

-"You think?" She flirted.

-"Definitely", they kissed again before getting ready for the day.

-As Peyton got out of the bathroom she handed Lucas his boxers and hoody.

-"Keep them", Lucas said.

-"What? Are you sure?"

-"Yeah, like I said, it looks hot on you and beside that way you can have a reminder of me with you back home."

-"I don't need the clothes to remember you, but I'll take them as long as they smell like you. When they start smelling like me you'll need to wear them again so I can get the smell back".

-"Oh! So someone wants to smell me Hein?" He joked, "I got to say, I get it, I smell wonderful."

-"Someone's cocky."

-"Well you said it", he said, but before she could give him a come back that he knew she was thinking about he grabbed her and brought her flush against him and kissed her.

-They got carried away pretty quickly and as Lucas was starting to walk them back to his bed Peyton came to her senses.

-"Luke! I don't think so. We have plans for today remember. Beside I want to wait, if you don't mind I mean…" Peyton started to babble

-"It's alright Peyt. I don't mind waiting, but it doesn't mean that we have to leave the house. I'm pretty sure I came come up with stuff for us to do here", he said playfully.

-"Sorry but I do want to see where you live. Now come on." She said taking his hand and leading him outside the room and out of the house.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

-Lucas had taken Peyton all around town, he showed her all of his favourite spots, then the two of them had lunch. Lucas still hadn't told her what they were shopping for and Peyton was starting to become impatient as the two of them entered the mall.

-"Come on, there's this great record store that I want to show you, but before I need to buy something."

-"What?" Peyton inquired.

-"You'll know soon enough", Lucas said taking her hand and leading her into the mall.

-The two of them walked into an electronic store and before Peyton could ask any question a retailer came to them.

-"Can I help you?" he asked.

-"Yeah, I need a web cam", Lucas said looking at Peyton.

-"What?" Peyton said surprised.

-"Well, I figured, you have one. It'd be kind of unfair for me to be able to see you while you wouldn't be able to see me."

-Peyton laughed. "You're right that would be unfair."

-Peyton did most of the shopping since Lucas didn't know much about wed cam, when she figured out the best one she handed it to Lucas who went and paid for it.

-"I can't believe you bought a web cam for me", Peyton said as Lucas warped his arm around her shoulder.

-"I told you I was going to make this work", Lucas said as he kissed her forehead.

-The two of them walked into the record store Lucas wanted to show her and the two of them spent a couple hours looking at records.

-Lucas and Peyton had ended up at the park in the early afternoon. Lucas kept saying over and over again that he didn't need to practice and that he wasn't worried about the tryouts but Peyton knew better so she had suggested that they spent the rest of the afternoon at the court.

-"I'm telling you, it's fine. You play, I'll sit here and draw", Peyton said as she opened her sketchbook over on the bleachers as Lucas stood in front of her.

-"Okay, fine, but not for long. As soon as you're bored tell me and we're out of here" He said as he got on the court and started playing.

-Peyton looked at him for a few minutes before she started to sketch him as he played.

-Lucas came back and sat himself behind Peyton putting his arms around her waist.

-"Hey! I thought you needed practicing." She asked as he rested his chin against her shoulder.

-"I do, but I can't concentrate. I've always loved to watch you draw."

-"You know I'm only drawing because you wanted to practice right." Peyton said as Lucas held her tighter.

-"That's why we have a problem", Lucas flirted as he began kissing her neck.

-"OH! So what do you suggest we do about this?"

-"I have a pretty good idea. What do you think? Lucas kept kissing her neck,

-"I think that's a great idea", she finished as she turned her head to take his mouth.

-The two of them were getting pretty cozy and they were interrupted by a flash.

-"What the hell", Lucas complained as he opened his eyes to see his group of friends, Justin holding his camera phone.

-"Pretty good, you guys are very photogenic." Justin answered laughing.

-"I'm going to kick your ass", Lucas said back, tightening his hold on Peyton who was looking embarrassed.

-"Leave them alone jackass, they're cute", defended Shelly.

-"So, I'm assuming yesterday went well Luke", asked 'Mark.

-"Great. Could we talk about something else please. You guys are making her uncomfortable."

-"Your girlfriend you mean?" Inquired Sebastian.

-"God, you guys are annoying. Don't you have anything better to do?" Lucas ask getting irritated.

-"We came because we thought being the paranoiac that you are that you would like to practice before the tryouts, but apparently you worked through it", Justin said.

-"I got distracted", Lucas said smiling at Peyton.

-"Really, you guys are so cute, I'm going to puke." Mark joked.

-"Leave them alone. Why don't you guys go play some ball and stop being so annoying."

-"Fine. Come on guys", insisted Patrick.

-"Luke, man, are you coming?" Mark asked his friend.

-Lucas looked down at Peyton hesitantly.

-"Man your so whipped. You seriously are asking her permission", Mark joked.

-"Leave him alone, he's a good boyfriend. Maybe he could give you a lesson or too." Said Shelly.

-"It's alright go ahead." Peyton spoke for the first time since they had been interrupted.

-"Hum, I don't know. I mean…."

-"Go ahead Luke, we'll keep her company", insisted Sophie.

-"Fine. But not for long." He kissed Peyton's forehead. "Call me if you need anything okay."

-"I'll be fine." Peyton answered as Lucas released his hold on her. He kissed her one last time on the lips before getting up and joining the guys on the court.

-The three girls sat down on the bleachers around Peyton.

-"So Lucas' girlfriend, Peyton right?" Asked one of the girl.

-"Hum! Yeah", Peyton agreed.

-The blonde girl who was sitting closest to her extend her hand.

-"I'm Shelly. I'm dating the tall idiot with the green shirt", she said pointing at Mark, who now had the ball.

-Peyton shook her hand.

-Shelly spoke again. "This is Sophie", she said introducing the brunette who was sitting beside her. "She's dating Sebastian. He doesn't talk much. He's the one with the red shirt." Again she pointed toward the court at the blond boy on the court while Peyton shook the girl's hand.

-"And this", Shelly finished pointing at the other girl who was sitting on the other side of Peyton, "is Jenn. She's dating Patrick, the yellow shirt. She's a cheerleader, which Sophie and I love to make fun of." She finished as Jenn sent her a death glare.

-"Hi! And just so you know I'm a cheerleader too" Peyton said as she shook Jenn.'s hand.

-"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Shelly excused herself.

-"No, it's alright. Most days I'm making fun of it as well." She smiled.

-Now that the ice was broken the 4 girls spent the rest of the game talking about random stuff. Peyton was surprised to find that she got along pretty well with the three girls.

-The boys finished their games and headed back to the bleachers where the girls were in the middle of a conversation.

-"Come on, we want to know", inquired Sophie.

-"What?" Asked Sebastian sitting beside his girlfriend.

-"We were asking Peyton here how her and Lucas got together." Shelly repeated to the boys who were now sitting with them.

-Lucas who was back sitting behind Peyton spoke.

-"You guys don't want to know about this, it's a very long and dramatic story."

-"You only make me want to know more. Nothing dramatic ever happens here", complained Shelly.

-"Well you definitely should move to Tree Hill. We eat drama for breakfast." Peyton joked.

-"Oh come on, tell us already. I'm dying here", Justin insisted.

-"Okay fine", Peyton agreed.

-"What?" Lucas disagreed.

-"Oh! Come on. They're going to find out soon enough. Beside everybody screws up. You're no different' Peyton argued.

-"So, Lucas screws up Hein? I think I'm going to love this story." Mark joked.

-"Shut up" Lucas said to his friend.

-All of them sat with each other as Peyton started telling the drama-filled story that was her and Lucas' relationship.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

-"Oh my god, I can't believe you dated the hottie from Tree Hill. That's so awesome." Stated Sophie.

-"And I can't believe you didn't tell us that he was your brother." Added Sean.

-"Well, I don't really refer to him as the hottie", Lucas answered, tightening his hold on Peyton who was smiling.

-"How do you know him anyway?", Lucas asked his friends.

-"We played them in a tournament 2 years ago, the girls loved him right away, something about him looking like a God or something." Mark joked.

-"We never said that, we said he was hot." Shelly countered.. "I can't believe he's married."

-"Can we stop talking about you guys finding my brother hot, it's disturbing", Lucas declared.

-"Alright, but we're so going to hold this over your head." Justin joked.

-"That's so nice of you", Lucas answered.

-"So, Peyton, will we see you next Friday at the ceremony", asked Patrick.

-"Yeah, I'll be there." She said as she smiled at Lucas.

-"Cool, we'll celebrate afterward", Mark said to the group.

-"We might have nothing to celebrate", Lucas stammered.

-"Come on man, how many times will we have to tell you, you're more likely to make the team than I am.", Justin reassured.

-The group spent the next few hours kidding around until it was time for Peyton to leave. It wasn't really that late, barely after six, but Lucas had insisted that it wouldn't be safe for her to drive in the dark. The girls each hugged Peyton and said they were going to call her and Lucas led Peyton to the car.

-Lucas opened the door for her, as Peyton stood there not wanting to get in. He placed a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her lips. When he pulled back he smiled at her.

-"Call me as soon as you get home alright." He caressed her cheek with his thumb.

-"Okay, I will." Peyton kissed him again her lips lingering afterwards.

-"It's going to be alright. We'll talk everyday, and you'll be here Friday. It's all going to be fine, I promise." He reassured her.

-"Yeah, I know." She got into the car. Lucas closed the door after her. He kissed her one last time.

-"I love you", he told her.

-"I love you too," Peyton reached to the passenger's side and grabbed Lucas's hoodie that she had left there earlier. She put it on. Lucas smiled as he watched her. He pulled back.

-"Drive safe", he told her before she drove away.

-Peyton had driven almost halfway in silence, she didn't feel like listening to music, which for her was pretty rare. She kept telling herself that it was only five days and that it wasn't that long, but it didn't seem to be working. To calm herself down she turned on the radio.

-As she got home, Peyton gathered the sport bag in which Lucas had put the boxers that she had worn the previous night and her shirt from yesterday, and exited the car.

-The first thing she did when she got into her room, was taking out her phone and calling Lucas's cell.

-He answered almost right away.

-"Hey"

-"Hey back", she answered.

-"So you made it home alright?", he asked her.

-"Yeah, I'm in my room now. So what did you do after I left."

-"Not much. I didn't really feel like hanging out, so I came back home. I connected my web cam." He said proudly.

-"Great, does it at least work", she asked smiling.

-"I should be insulted that you are doubting me. Of course it works", he said laughing.. "You want proof. Get connected."

-"Alright", Peyton laughed as she sat herself down in front of her computer. A couple minutes later she could see Lucas through her screen. "I'm sorry I doubted you", she laughed again.

-"You better be. By the way, you still look hot in my clothes." He flirted. "I think it sucks that you have clothes of mine to wear and I don't have anything of yours."

-"Would you really wear my clothes." She giggled, "That would be hilarious."

-"Ha! Ha! Really funny."

-The two of them talked through the web cam for a long time and came to the arrangement that every night at 10 pm they would talked to each other through the web cam.

-When she signed of later that night, Peyton was convinced that things were going to work out. She prepared herself for bed. She wore Lucas' boxers with a t-shirt and put his hoodie just beside her on the bed. She knew it was corny but she couldn't help it, she really was going to miss sleeping in Lucas' arms.

-Peyton was woken up the next day by Brooke barging into her room.

-"Come on best friend, it's bright and early. We need to get ready!" she yelled as she jumped onto Peyton's bed.

-"Brooke, get off, I'm sleeping. It's like 7 o'clock", she complained.

-"Actually, it's 6:45", she laughed as Peyton groaned and buried her head under her pillow.

-"Oh come on. It's a ritual.. The first day of each school year, you and I get ready together. You haven't forgotten right?"

-Truth is, Peyton had completely forgotten about this. "Sorry, I had a lot on my mind." She apologized as she brushed her hand off her mattress to find the hoodie that she had laid there the night before. When she found it she pushed it farther down and slowly got out of bed.

-"It's alright That's why I'm here." Brooke joked. She pushed Peyton toward the bathroom. "Take a shower, I'll wait for you."

-As Peyton got out of the shower Brooke was going through her closest. She threw her some clothes.

-"Wear that. You'll look hot."

-Peyton smiled remembering that Lucas had told her that last night when she was wearing his hoodie.

-"Why would I want to look hot?" She asked Brooke still smiling.

-"Hum, I don't know. Maybe because this is a whole new year and we're both single."

-Peyton's smile faded. "Umm, I don't want a boyfriend Brooke."

-"Who said anything about boyfriends." Brooke said back as Peyton started getting dressed. "This year, it's all about having fun."

-"Alright", Peyton agreed as the two of them finished getting ready.

-The first day of school had been going pretty well. It was lunch time already and Peyton was thinking that maybe it wasn't going to be so bad. She was having lunch with Brook, Haley and Nathan when her cell phone rang.

-Peyton looked at the I.D. and smiled. She turned to her friends.

-"I got to take this", she said as she walked away from her friends.

-"Hey you", She said into the phone.

"Hey blondie. Were you busy? Cause it took you a while to answer." Lucas said.

-"Oh! No. Of course not. I was just having lunch"

-"With Brooke", he asked.

-"Yeah, and Haley and Nathan, I'm going to tell them Luke, I just…."

-"Hey, it's alright. Not my decision. Beside it's not the reason I called."

-"Oh my god, I forgot, How was this morning, the tryouts." She asked excited.

-"It was great. Better than I thought. I think I might have a chance of making it." He said back

-"I knew it. You're so going to make this team." Peyton declared excitedly.

-"Well, it's not done yet, but I sure hope so."

-"Well it's great."

-The two of them talked for a few minutes until Lucas said that h had to go.

-"I'll see you tonight alright. At 10?" He asked.

-"Wouldn't miss it." She agreed.

-"Cool. Have fun today. I love you." He finished.

-"I love you", she said back before handing the phone.

-Peyton walked back to her friends and sat down.

-"So, who was that?" Asked Haley suspiciously.

-"who was what?" she played dumb.

-"Oh! Don't play stupid miss. I saw the smiling and the flirting that was so a guy", Brooke stated.

-"It was, just a friend", she lied. She knew, she should have told them already but something was stopping her. She felt like she needed more time, so she lied.

-"It's gonna do, for now", Brooke said seeing her friend's discomfort.

-"I'm going to go", Peyton said before getting up and heading toward the building.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

-It was Friday, and Peyton was surprised at how fast the week had gone by, tonight she was going to see Lucas and she couldn't wait. Her things were already packed and in the trunk of her car. She had decided that she was going to leave at 4 to be sure to be there on time for Lucas' ceremony. Here she was, at 3 in the afternoon waiting for Brooke to end cheerleading practice. They had started practicing at 2, but Brooke wasn't satisfied, so she had been keeping them there.

-Peyton followed Brooke's order till a quarter to four. She needed to go, she wanted to take a shower before heading out and if she stayed she was going to be late. She couldn't do that to Lucas.

-"Girls, we are going to stay here until all of you get these steps, so if you don't want to spend the night here I suggest to get down to it." Brooke was going Nazi on them.

-As she heard the team complaining Brooke decided to give them a five minute break. Peyton took Brook aside.

-"I got to go Brooke, I'm sorry." Peyton apologized.

-"What! You can't leave. I need you here, these girls are useless." Brooke argued.

-"I can't stay. There's somewhere I need to be." Peyton stated.

-"Peyton we need to practice, we got a game to attend in 2 weeks, and we're not ready."

-"I wanted to talk to you about that. Away games are not mandatory, so I'm not going to be there. I just don't see the point anyway."

-"What. I'm not hearing this. We always go to away games, and we need you on this team".

-"Brooke, you can find someone else to replace me when I'm not there, but now I really need to go", Peyton said as she walked past Brooke.

-"Wait you can't…" Brooke didn't get to finish her sentence, Peyton was already out the door, "What the hell is up with her?" she asked herself.

-Lucas was sitting on the steps of his house waiting for Peyton. It wasn't time yet but he was anxious to see her.

-His uncle came to sit beside him. "It's only 6:30, she shouldn't be here for another 15 minutes."

-"I know, I just…"

-"Miss her." Keith finished for him

-"Yeah! It's only 5 days I know, but yeah I missed her." Lucas concurred.

-"It's alright. I'm sure she missed you too"

-"Yeah", With that the two of them sat there looking out toward the road until they saw Peyton's car turn into the driveway. Lucas was on his feet before Peyton even stopped the car.

-Keith watched as his nephew swirl Peyton around as soon as she got out of the car.

-Lucas held her close as he kissed her head. When she pulled apart, he stroked her cheek and went in for a kiss. Peyton deepened it almost instantly. The two of them pulled apart when they heard Keith cough to indicate his presence.

-"I don't want to interrupt, Huh, actually yes I do. We have to go. Lucas why don't you take Peyton's stuff to your room." He suggested.

-"Yeah, that's a good idea." Lucas agreed as Peyton led him to the back of her car and opened the trunk. Lucas took her bag and kissed her on the cheek before running into the house.

-"Hi Peyton", Keith started.

-"Hi"

-"I'm glad you could come. He acts like he isn't nervous, but he is. He's thrilled that you're here tonight."

-"Yeah, me too", she said looking toward the door.

-Keith saw this and smiled. "He missed you a lot you know"

-"Yeah, so did I." Peyton agreed. She smiled as she saw Lucas coming down the stairs.

-"All set', he asked them while putting his arm around Peyton.

-"Yeah, we were just waiting for you." Keith said as the three of them got into the car.

-When they got to the school, Lucas suggested that he give Peyton a tour of the school before the thing started so the two of them left Keith to go visit. They hadn't been far when they were ambushed by his friends.

-"Peyton, how nice to see you. We've miss you a lot, broody here's been more broody than usual", said Mark.

-"Nice to see you Mark, and you guys too", she said to the rest of the group as the girls hugged her.

-"Oh! I love your dress", stated Shelly.

-"Thanks. You all look great too", Peyton answered.

-"It's not that I don't like to talk about dress and all, but we're going to be late." Sean spoke as Sophie punched him in the arm.

-The group headed back to the gym where they attended the ceremony. It wasn't all that much. Just a presentation of all the school's varsity teams. Men's basketball went last. It wasn't a surprise to anybody but Lucas that he made the team. Afterwards, they all went to Justin's where there was a party.

-Lucas and Peyton left the party pretty early, they wanted to spend time alone.

-They laid together on his bed.

-"I can't believe I made the team", Lucas said to her stroking her hair.

-"I can. You're the best." Peyton answered him.

-"It sucks that you won't get to see me play." Lucas said sadly.

-"Why wouldn't I?" Peyton asked.

-"Well, games are Friday and the Ravens play Friday too, so I assumed."

-"I knew you were going to make the team so, I told Brooke that I wouldn't go to any away games. That way, I can see you play on those Fridays."

-"You're the best", Lucas claimed as he gently turned her face so that he could kiss her.

-"Humm, I am aren't I?" She said as Lucas went in for another kiss. Peyton deepened it and soon enough the two of them were in a full on make out session.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

3 month later

-It was Friday night, but Peyton wasn't on the road yet. The ravens were playing and as she had promised Brooke she always attended the home games and tonight was one of them. It was harder for her to be here tonight since Lucas wasn't playing. His team had the week off, so she could have been with him all weekend without basketball, but here she was.

-"Could you at least try to look a little cheery", Brooke said to her.

-"I am", Peyton argued.

-"Come on, you look like you'd rather be anywhere but here"

-"Actually I would, but here I am", Peyton said with a fake smile.

-"What's wrong with you?" Brooke asked her friend.

-"What are you taking about. Nothing's wrong with me." Peyton disagreed.

-"You used to love cheerleading. Now you're barely showing up and when you do, you look like you're here against your will." Brooke stated.

-"I kinda am" Peyton joked. She stopped laughing when she saw the death glare Brooke was giving her.

-"Sorry. I'm going right into cheerleader mode." She said still smiling and went back to cheerleading.

-The rest of the game went not too badly for Peyton as she found herself almost enjoying the game. The Ravens won, which was not unusual and Peyton had just got out of the shower. She had decided to shower at the gym so that she could take off for Charleston earlier. She was getting dressed when her cell phone rang. She smiled before picking it up.

-"I'm just leaving. I should be there soon." She said into the phone.

-"You know, you're really cute in your cheer uniform. You should really bring it some weekend."

-"Will do, but how would you know?" she asked him.

-Lucas ignored her question. "I also really like that move you did just before the half-time. It was real inspired."

-"Luke, what is going on?" Peyton asked suspiciously.

-"Get out of the locker room and find out." Lucas told her.

-Peyton smiled as she put her cheerleading gear into her bag and put it over her shoulder. She headed for the door. "You didn't, tell me you' re not… HERE" she screamed as she opened the door and saw Lucas sitting on the bleachers.

-Lucas got up as Peyton just stood there amazed, still holding the phone to her hear.

-"Peyton", he said into the phone, "I think you can hang up now." He smiled as Peyton didn't take her eyes off him as she slowly closed her phone and put it into her purse. He could see it in her eyes when the surprise wore off and she realised that he was standing in front of her.

-"LUCAS", she screamed as she ran into his arms.

-Lucas caught her and spun her around before letting her down and hugging her with all his might. The two of them stayed entangled for a few more seconds before Lucas pulled back slightly, so he could look at her.

-"So, good surprise or bad surprise?" He asked her uncertain.

-"Great surprise", she said as she got on her toes and took his face in her hands.

-"Yeah?" He asked her smiling.

-"Yeah", she confirmed as she grazed her lips to his.

-Lucas kissed her back bringing her flush against him as she deepened the kiss.

-They kept kissing for a little longer until Peyton pulled back and looked up at him.

-"No that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" She asked him.

-"Well, like you know I wasn't playing tonight so I sat there counting the hours till you would be there and then I figured, why not surprise you. I went to see my mom and then I decided to come and see you in action. I gotta say, I should have spent more time watching you when I played here, you really are something to see." He said giving her a smile.

-Peyton laughed. "That probably would have gotten you into trouble. You know, since you were suppose to be playing."

-"Probably. So not that I don't like hanging out with you in the gym but where do we go from here. I mean we could go back to my mom's, I doubt Brooke would show up there" Lucas said as he kept his hands on her waists.

-Peyton looked up at him. She knew Lucas hated that he couldn't tell any of his friends in Tree hill about them. For Peyton, the last three months had gone better then she had expected, but now she hated that Lucas felt weird about doing something so romantic for her. She didn't want him to have to question himself like that.

-"No, let's go to my place. You got your stuff right?" She asked him.

-"Hum, yeah. What about Brooke." He asked hesitantly.

-"She knows I'm never home on week ends, I doubt she would show. Beside, I'm not her favourite person right now anyway."

-"Why?" He asked.

-"Let's talk about this at my place alright, I'm beat." She said resting her head on his chest.

-"Okay. Let's go." He took her hand and led her out of the gym.

-The two of them had to take separate cars seeing as they both had took a car to the gym.

-Lucas parked behind Peyton's car and took his bag out of the trunk. Peyton was waiting beside her car with her bag. Lucas walked up to her and kiss her cheek as he took the bag from her shoulder and put it on his as Peyton led him into the house.

-Lucas and Peyton were laying on her bed listening to music. Peyton was laying on Lucas's chest and he played with her hair, when he remembered something.

-"What happened with Brooke? You said you were going to tell me later and well, it's later."

-"Oh! It's nothing big. Brooke's been on my case for a while. She's pissed that I don't go to away games anymore and she says that I don't look like I want to be there when I am there. She'll get over it."

-"So you'd rather be with me than watch basketball and do cheerleading?" Lucas said as he kissed her hair.

-"Did you even have to ask. The problem is, Brooke doesn't know that I have such a great alternative to cheerleading now? That's why she has a problem"

-"You know, you could just tell her." He told her. Lucas took a deep breath. It was the first time they had approached the subject of telling Brooke and he didn't know how Peyton would react.

-"I know I'm just scared. I mean things are going so great right now and every time I want to tell her it just jumps at me, the minute I tell her, her and I are done. Does it make me selfish that I want to keep things good for as long as I can?" She asked him.

-"Of course not. It is your decision, you tell her when you feel like it. I just think that it probably is going to be much worst if she finds out by herself."

-"You're right. I just. It's just, it's so hard to find the guts to do it, you know."

-"Yeah. When you do decide to tell her, if you want me there, I'll be there." He kissed her head again.

-"Thanks, you're the best boyfriend ever."

-"I know", he said cockily.

-"Hum, you know don't you?" She laughed.

-"Actually, yeah I do." He said as he turned them over so Peyton was lying on her back and he was on top of her. He kissed her and then pulled back. "So, what do you think?"

-"I think I was right, you are the best boyfriend ever, and very sexy." She added as she kissed him.

-"Umm, I knew it", he joked against her lips before deepening the kiss.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

-The next morning Peyton woke up to find Lucas looking at her, she smiled. When they had started dating Peyton had found it weird that she always woke up to Lucas staring at her, but now, she found it endearing. Lucas always woke up early yet he always stayed in bed until she woke up as well.

-"Good morning." He told her when he saw her awake.

-"Good morning, so, how did you sleep?" She asked him as he opened his arms for her and she rested her head on his chest.

-"Great. Making out with you is always so exhausting, I crashed. I slept like a baby." He smiled as she kissed his chest through the tee-shirt he was wearing.

-"That's what I'm here for." She laughed. Peyton was amazed. Her and Lucas had been dating three months and after the first week end when she had told him that she wanted to wait before having sex, Lucas had never pressured her. They would make out, and when things go too heated up, Lucas would pull back and roll off her and take her in his arms.

-The two of them stayed entangled a little longer and then Lucas became hungry.

-"I got an idea, why don't you go shower, in the meantime I'll make us breakfast. What do you think?" He looked at her.

-"I think that it's a great idea. I'll go right now, I'm starving" She said as she was about to get up, but Lucas pulled her back down on top of him.

-"Not without my good morning kiss you don't." He teased her. Peyton complied taking his face with both of her hands as she kissed him. Lucas instantly deepened the kiss.

-"num-hum, I'm hungry remember." She pulled back.

-"Well so am I", Lucas said as he took her mouth again. The two of them got carried away a little as Peyton deepened the kiss, that is, until she remembered that Luca had promised her breakfast.

-"Hum, okay. Come on. Time to get up. You promised me breakfast." She said as she got up and took Lucas' hand to make him get up as well.

-"Fine, but you owe me." He told her as Peyton went in the direction of the bathroom.

-"Hey, you're the one who promised me breakfast. You know how I get with food." She finished as she closed the door behind her.

-"Yeah. That will show me. No promise of food before a make-out session." He yelled after her as he heard the shower start. He left the room in search of the kitchen.

-Peyton exited the bathroom wearing a towel. She smiled as she smelled the odor of food coming from the kitchen. She got dressed and decided that she would do her make-up later, when Lucas was taking his shower. She left the room and went to the kitchen where she stop in the doorway to observe her boyfriend.

-Lucas was facing the oven and was whistling as he was preparing breakfast. She kept looking at him for a few more seconds before walking up to him. She circled her hands around his torso and kissed his shoulder blade through his shirt.

-"Something's smells good." She told him not releasing her hold on him.

-"Well, I made it"

-"Oh! Someone's cocky." She laughed

-"I'm not cocky, just good. Come on sit, I'll give you a plate." Peyton let go of his waist and sat at the table.

-Lucas brought her a plate of the omelet he had just made and then sat in front of her with his own plate.

-"Humm, that's delicious. I should have you here more often."

-"I cook for you all the time at my place."

-"It's not my fault you don't like my cooking." She said back.

-"Kraft dinner is not cooking"

-"Funny", Peyton laughed as her and Lucas finished their breakfast.

-After breakfast, the two of them got back to Peyton's bedroom. Lucas was about to go into the bathroom while Peyton would do her make-up.

-"You know, there is place for one more", he flirted.

-"I already took a shower." She smiled at him.

-"You can never be too clean."

-"You really are hilarious today you know. Get in the shower." She said as she went to her mirror to apply her make-up.

-"Fine, but you'll regret it later." He joked before closing the door behind him.

-Lucas got out of the bathroom to find Peyton ready and sitting on her bed. He went and sat by her.

-"So, what do we do today?" Lucas asked her.

-"Hum, I don't know. I wasn't suppose to be here this weekend remember."

-"If you want to stay in so nobody would see us together I get it, we could…"

-"No, of course not. You're here. Wait, I have an idea. There is this art show I wanted to see. I was going to go next week, but now that you're here. You could come with me."

-"Yeah, I'd love to."

-"Are you sure? I mean…."

-"I would love to. I love to watch you look at art", Lucas smiled at her

-"Okay, let's go then.", she took his hand and led him outside where they stood between the two cars.

-"We take yours or mine", Lucas asked.

-"Well yours is blocking mine, so I say we take yours. By the way, how did you get Mark to let you take his car for the weekend. He's told me so many time that his car is his most priced possession. I doubt he would just let you take it."

-"Actually, we made a deal. He lend me the car, but I have to wash it and change the oil and stuff later. I think he got the better end of the deal, but I needed the car."

-"Then, let's use it. Come on." She got into the car and Lucas closed the door behind her, She loved that even if they had been dating for 3 months already, Lucas still opened doors for her. It was really cute.

-Lucas got into the car and the two of them drove away.

-It was three hours later when the couple left the gallery.

-"So, what did you think?" Peyton asked him nervously. Lucas had seem to enjoy himself but she wasn't sure.

-"It was awesome. Some of those pieces were really great. Others I didn't really get, but it was still really cool to watch you look at them. I love how you seemed to feel something for every single one of them. It made me feel closer to you." He took her hand as they walked toward the car.

-"What, you don't feel close to me the rest of the time?" She asked him

-"Yeah, of course I do. The difference is that when I watch you draw, you're like into your own world, and as much as I like trying to figure out what your thinking. Truth is I probably never will. Don't get me wrong I love that about you. It's just today I got to see another part of you and I love that part too."

-Peyton stopped walking and turn so that she could face him. "How come you always say the right thing to me. It's like, the more we get to know each other, the deeper I fall in love with you. I didn't think that it was possible." She pushed him slightly so that his back was now on the wall of the building instead of in the middle of the street, as she kissed him.

-Lucas was surprised at first by Peyton's public display of affection, he couldn't believe that this was the same girl that was scared of telling people in Tree Hill that they were dating, but he quickly got into it and brought her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

-They had just started kissing when they were interrupted.

-"Peyton." It was Haley's voice. Peyton froze. Lucas seem to have the same reaction as he too recognized the voice.

-Haley couldn't see who Peyton was with, she thought Peyton wasn't responding because she hadn't heard her, so she repeated herself.

-"Peyton, what are you doing here? You were suppose to be out of town right?" Haley asked.

-Peyton looked up at Lucas. There was no way out of this. She slightly turned and took Lucas' hand. Lucas looked at her quizzically, he thought that she was going to ask him to run out of there but here she was gasping his hand. Clearly the girl kept surprising him and he loved it. Peyton slowly started walking in the direction she had heard Haley with Lucas following slightly behind her.

-"Peyton, what are you… Lucas" Haley had finally realized who Peyton was with. To say that she was surprised was an understatement. Lucas was probably the last person that she had expected to see today.

-The four teen stood facing each other for a few more seconds until Nathan unfroze and hugged Lucas.

-"Lucas man, it's good to see you."

-"Yeah you too", Lucas answered keeping an eye on Peyton who was waiting for Haley to react.

-Lucas didn't know how he had expected Haley to react, but it sure as hell wasn't this way. Haley went nuts.

-"Oh my god! Tell my you guys aren't doing this again. I can't believe you would do this to Brooke, again. Didn't you guys learn anything form the last time you cheated." Haley paused.

-Lucas was too shocked to speak, all he could focus on was the growing pressure Peyton was putting on his hand as she held tighter to his hand. He knew exactly when she unclenched. He looked at her and he could see she had tears in her eyes. She let go of his hand and slowly stepped in front of Haley.

-"Screw you Haley." With that she started running in the opposite direction. Lucas was about to run after her but there was something he needed to get off his chest.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He shouted at her before turning around and running after Peyton.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

-Lucas followed Peyton, he had to say, for a girl who hated sports, the girl could run. He saw her go in his mom's café and ran after her. He looked at his mom when he entered the café.

-"Where is she?" He asked her.

-"Lucas what happened? She looked like she was crying." She interrogated him.

-"I'll tell you later. Where is"

-"She went to the roof." His mom told him before he could ask again. She could see her son was upset and didn't want to push him.

-Lucas ran up the stairs and opened the door to the roof. He saw Peyton right away. She was standing close to the edge looking at the city. Lucas walked behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

-Peyton turned around, she had tears in he eyes. "Sorry I ran out."

-"Hey, it's alright. She had no right to say those things. I can't believe"

-Peyton interrupted him. "Can we just not do that now. Luke, I'm grateful that you came after me, but now I kind of just need to be alone for a few minutes. We'll talk afterward I swear I just."

-"Hey, it's alright. I'll be downstairs. Call me when you're ready okay." He told her caressing her cheek.

-"Okay."

-Lucas was about to leave, but he hesitated, he looked at her and sweetly kissed her lips. When he saw Peyton give him a small smile he turned around and went downstairs.

-"Hey, how's Peyton?' His mom asked him as he sat on a stool by the counter.

-"She'll be alright, I think. She told me she needed time alone and that we'd talk afterward."

-"What happened. Did you guys fight?"

-"No, of course not. Why would you assume that?" When he saw his mom give him a look he continued. "Fine, it could have been my fault, but it wasn't. I haven't screwed up in a really long time."

-"Okay, I', sorry. So what happened?"

-"Everything was going great. We had this great time looking at this art show, you know the one at that gallery a couple blocks from here. Yeah, well, we were coming here to say hi and eat something when we ran into Haley and Nathan. Haley, she didn't know about us, and she said some things. You wouldn't believe the things she said mom. Anyway, Peyton got upset, she screamed at Haley and took off running before I had time to react."

-"Lucas, Haley is your best friend. I'm sure, whatever she said she didn't mean it. She would never want to hurt you."

-"There is no misunderstanding what she said mom. I just wish, it's just Peyton's already worried enough about what Brooke will do when she finds out about us. She didn't need Haley blowing up at her like that. Maybe Peyton was right all along, nobody in this town is big on second chances. I mean, it doesn't matter that things are different now, the past is always going to haunt us here," Lucas said saddened. He had hoped that Peyton was wrong and that people would forget about the mistakes that they had made last year, but now he seriously doubted it. Haley was suppose to be his friend and she had reacted the way Peyton had predicted.

-"Lucas." His mom try to comfort him.

-"No, it's alright mom. I guess I'm just going to have to accept that Peyton and I will never be accepted by this town. Luckily, Charleston isn't like that."

-"Lucas, just because Haley didn't react the way you expected, it doesn't mean that the rest of this town will. You'll never know if you don't give it a chance."

-"I can't mom, because in the end, it's not me who's going to have to deal with the aftermath. I'm not here everyday, Peyton is, and she's the one who's going to have to deal with it. I can't leave her to handle the consequences on her own, it wouldn't be fair."

-"Lucas."

-"Don't mom. Coming here was a bad idea. I know that now."

-They were interrupted by people coming in. Lucas turned around to find Haley and Nathan standing by the door.

"What are you doing here? Haven't you caused enough problems for the day." Lucas spat at Haley.

-"Lucas" Haley said as her and Nathan approached Lucas. "I'm your best friend, and this is why I can't just stand by and let you make a huge mistake again."

-"I'd be careful with what I say if I were you Haley." Lucas warned closing his fists to clam himself down.

-"I just can't believe that you would go down this path again, with the lying and the cheating."

-"What the hell are you talking about." Lucas spat.

-"The last time we talked, you told me you were in a serious relationship and now what. You're cheating on her with Peyton. Haven't you learned anything from last year. And Peyton, I can't believe her. How can she lie to all of us, to Brooke. What? She tells us that she's out of town each weekend so that you two can screw around without any of us noticing."

-"I'd shut up now Haley." Lucas said as he started walking toward the roof door. He opened the door, but Haley spoke again.

-"You two should be ashamed of yourself. I can't believe you'd make the same mistake again. Because this is what it is Lucas, it's a mistake."

-Lucas turned around, with his hand still on the handle. "You know what Haley? Peyton's right. Go screw yourself." He yelled at her before turning around and sitting on the stairs as the door closed in front of him.

-Peyton heard Lucas scream at Haley, she expected to see him coming up, but when he didn't she got worried and went to the door to see Lucas sitting on the steps.

-"Lucas", she called to him. "What happened?" she asked as Lucas turned around and she saw that he looked upset.

-"Oh! I know you wanted to be alone, but I just needed some space, I can go."

-"Of course not. Come up", Lucas sot up and went up the stairs. When he reached his girlfriend, she hugged him, without saying a word the two of them just held each other.

-Peyton took Lucas' hand and pulled him toward the centre of the room.

-"Want to tell me what happened?" she calmly asked him.

-"Haley and Nathan came in, and she just pushed my buttons. She said all those horrible things about us, about you, and I just flipped. She doesn't know anything about us and yet she can judge us, and based on what, a mistake that happened last year. This doesn't make us a mistake. She had no rights."

-"I know, but do you know what I realised standing here. It doesn't matter what she thinks, it doesn't matter what anyone think. Well beside you and me. And do you know what I think. I think that I love you and that we are right for each other."

-"I love you and I think that we belong together. You're right. It doesn't matter what Haley thinks, or what anyone thinks for that matter. I just wish that things could be different, that people here would just accept us."

-"Yeah, me too. But the fact that they don't, it won't stop me. I want to be with you, it's all that matters."

-Lucas smiled as he gently pressed his lips to hers. " I want to be with you too", Lucas said against her lips before going for another kiss.

-Meanwhile, downstairs, Karen had had enough.

-"Haley, why don't you do me a favour and get your facts strait before judging people."

-"Karen, I'm sorry for doing this in front of you, but it's not right what they are doing and that's probably the reason why they didn't tell anybody, not even you, about what they were doing." Haley argued.

-"Let me get your facts right for you Haley because you are wrong about everything. First of, I did know about Lucas and Peyton. I've known for a long time, the day after it happened to be exact. Secondly, you know this serious relationship Lucas told you he was in, it's with Peyton. They started dating more than 3 months ago. They told Keith, they told me, and they told Peyton's father. Also, Peyton has been out of town every weekend, she goes to Charleston every Friday to spend the week end with Lucas. Lucas' friends in Charleston, know Peyton, his basketball team knows, basically, everyone knows. And finally, when they started dating, they made the decision to see each other in Charleston and not in Tree Hill. The reason why they made that decision or why they decided not to advertise their relationship in Tree Hill is none of your business. The only reason hwy you even found out was because Lucas wasn't playing yesterday so he decided to surprise Peyton and spare her the late night driving to Charleston by coming here. They weren't sneaking around, and the way you're acting now, is probably the reason why they chose to keep their relationship private from you guys. Now, I think you should leave." Karen finished.

-"Karen, I" Haley started.

-"Haley, I'm going to make things very clear. I like you and you guys are welcome here anytime, but my son and his girlfriend are here now, and if they don't want to see you, then they don't want to see you. I'm going to give you a tip. Peyton, she makes Lucas happy, and he makes her happy. If you really are their friends, you should accept that, because otherwise, I'm warning you, you will lose them. I'll see you guys another time." Karen told them as Nathan led Haley outside.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

-Lucas and Peyton walked in the café a little while after Haley and Nathan had left to find Karen working behind the counter.

-"Hey mom", Lucas said to his mom as he looked around worryingly for any signs of Haley.

-"Don't worry, I told them to leave a while ago. How are you guys doing?" Karen asked them.

-"We're fine. We talked, and we realise that it doesn't matter what Haley or Brooke or anyone else thinks of our relationship. They can think whatever they want." Lucas stated.

-"Good for you. I'm proud of you guys, but I set Haley straight. I couldn't stand to see her be so wrong about everything. I told her everything, well not everything, I didn't tell her about the reasons why you guys had decided not to tell anybody in Tree Hill. It wasn't any of your business. Do you guys mind?" she asked worried.

-"Hum no, of course not." Peyton said as her and Lucas sat on stools by the counter.

-"Good, so are you guys hungry." Karen asked them.

-"We're starving." Lucas answered for the two of them.

-"Well good, pick whatever you want."

-The next hour was spent with the three of them enjoying lunch and talking about small stuff.

-"So, what are your plans for the rest of the weekend", Karen asked them.

-"Hum, I don't know. We haven't really thought about it." Lucas answered.

-"Well, I have an idea. Why don't you spend the night at my house. We could stay in for the night, rent movies and stuff. I really miss you and well, I doubt anybody would look for you there." Karen suggested.

-Lucas and Peyton looked at each other.

-"I miss you too mom, that would be great, but do you mean Peyton too cause." Lucas started.

-"Of course I mean Peyton too, I don't see her much, and beside it would be hypocritical of me to have a problem with you two sharing a bed at my house when I authorized it at Keith's. So what do you think?." She asked them.

-Lucas looked at Peyton who nodded.

-"I say we're in." Lucas then added. "We'll go to her place to get our stuff and then we'll pick up movies. We'll meet you at the house later. You're cooking dinner right?" Lucas finished.

-"What kind of a question is that. Of course I'm cooking, I wouldn't want you guys to starve." She laughed.

-"Thanks, so we'll see you at home" Lucas said as he took Peyton's hand an led her outside and to the car.

-An hour later, Peyton and Lucas were at Karen's. It had taken them longer because they couldn't agree on what movies to rent. Lucas wanted to rent thrillers and horror movies while Peyton argued that they should take at least one that his mother would like. Finally they agreed and rent 4 movies, which Peyton thought was a little extreme, but Lucas had insisted on having one of each genre, so they had one comedy, one drama, one thriller, and one horror movie. Peyton kept telling him that there was no way she was watching 4 movies, but Lucas said that they needed variety, so here they were with 4 movies.

-When Karen came home an hour and a half later she found the two teens arguing over a game of _Pictionary_.

-"It's your fault I'm losing, you're a lousy drawer." Peyton complained.

-"Hey, I'm not lousy. You're just not good at reading what I'm drawing. Maybe you don't have enough imagination."

-"OH! I have plenty of imagination. You just suck." Peyton criticized.

-"Okay, so what do we have here?" Karen asked coming into the kitchen.

-"Peyton here is complaining because she is a lousy loser." Lucas joked.

-"I'm only losing because you can't draw to save your life. Whereas my drawing are so good, you don't even have to think to find out the answer." Peyton retorted.

-"Okay. I'm sure you're exaggerating. Lucas can't be that bad." Karen said.

-Peyton went through the sheet of papers and took one and handed it to Karen.

-"Okay, so what expression is represented here?" Peyton challenged her.

-Karen looked at the picture. It looked like a sidewalk and a man so she said. "Walk this way I think."

-Peyton smiled while Lucas growled. "Well, you would be wrong. The correct answer was 'to jump on the bandwagon."

-"Oh" Karen looked closer at the picture. "Where is the wagon, or the jumping for that matter."

-Lucas put his head in his hands while Peyton started laughing.

-"I'm sorry son, but I gotta go with Peyton on that one. This one is not really good." She looked through the pile of drawings and picked one. "This one is really good though. It's 'to have the head in the clouds' right. Who made this one"

-"That would be me. It's pretty easy to see the difference right? Now can you guess who's winning?" She asked Karen.

-"Hum, I would guess Lucas." She said not looking at her son.

-"Which is exactly why I say we should play with an handicap." Peyton argued.

-"No way, it's not my fault you're losing."

-"Actually, yes it is."

-"Okay, so why don't you kids take a break and play again later." Karen suggested.

-"I'll play again only if you play too, that way it will be more fair."- Peyton asked Karen.

-"Okay, I'll play, but we start a new game and Peyton why don't you try to draw a little more like a mere mortal would. That way it will me more equal for everybody."

-"You're asking me to draw like him. I don't think I can be that bad, even without using my hands."

-"Hey!" Lucas was offended.

-"That's enough kids, let's play." Karen stopped the arguing.

-The rest of the evening went very well. After their game of _pictionary, _that Peytonwon much to Lucas disdain, the two of them helped Karen make dinner and then they ate. After dinner, they helped with the dishes. Peyton wanted to make a good impression, which Lucas thought was hilarious considering that his mom already knew Peyton, but he did as she wished. Now they were in the middle of the second movie of the night, they had started with the comedy and now were watching the horror movie.

-Lucas looked over at Peyton who rested her head on his shoulder an realised that she was sleeping. He didn't want her to be uncomfortable so he gently moved her so that her head would be on his lap. As he started to do it, his mom stopped him.

-"Don't move her, you'll wake her up."

-"Don't worry, she sleeps like a rock." He gently moved her and as he placed her head on his lap, looked at his mom. "See".

-His mom smiled. "Obviously you know her very well." She restarted the movie.

-"Yeah" Lucas said smiling as he started stroke her hair as he continued watching the movie.

-When the credits started rolling Lucas looked at his mom and whispered to her.

-"Do you mind If I go and put her to bed before we start the next one. That way we wont have to worry about waking her up."

-"No problem." She look at Lucas as he try to manoeuvre so that he could carry Peyton without waking her up. He seems to be having some problems. "Need any help?" she said as she got up.

-"Hum, yeah. Could you just support her head so I can move from under her." He told his mom.

-Karen carefully placed her hands under Peyton's head and lifted her head a little so that Lucas could move. Her son was pretty fast she had to admit. He was standing beside her before she even realised it. He placed one hand under her neck.

-"Thanks. I got it" He said as his mom moved and he put his other arm under her knees and lifted her. "Could you make some pop-corn?" He ask his mom as he started to carry Peyton to his room.

-"Yeah sure." As she started to go she heard the door bell. "Get her to bed, I got it."

-She walked past Lucas as she headed to the door, she opened it to find Haley and Nathan standing there.

-"Guys I don't…" she started.

-"We stopped by Peyton's place. They weren't there. I just want to talk to Lucas. He's leaving tomorrow and I don't want to leave things like this." Haley pleaded.

-"Fine, but if he doesn't want to talk to you, he doesn't." Karen decided.

-Haley and Nathan walked past Karen and came face to face with Lucas as he turned the corner toward his bedroom. Lucas stopped and looked at Peyton to make sure she was still asleep before walking past them and toward his bedroom.

-Haley and Nathan followed him to his bedroom and watched as Lucas stepped closer to the bed. Before Lucas could try to remove the covers Nathan had stepped in and done it for him.

-"Thanks", Lucas told him quietly as he gently laid Peyton on the bed. He tucked her in and kissed her forehead and then whispered to her. "I love you".

-He turned and walked toward Haley and Nathan and into the hallway as they followed. When he reached the kitchen, he saw his mom there making the pop corn, "Peyton still asleep?", she asked. "Yeah". He then turned to Haley and Nathan.

-"What do you want?" He asked them.

-"I just want to talk Luke", Haley told him.

-"I'm watching a movie with my mom." He answered.

-"Please Luke", Haley pleaded.

-"Fine", he looked at his mom, "I'll be right back", he headed toward the door as Nathan and Haley followed him.

-Okay, I'm listening.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

-"I'm listening" Lucas told Haley as he crossed his arms over his chest.

-"I didn't know"

-"It doesn't matter. You said what you said and it had an effect. You can't undo it." Lucas argued.

-"I want to make things right Luke." Haley said.

-"Well you can't" Lucas wasn't giving in.

-"Why didn't you just tell me about you and Peyton."

-"It's none of your business."

-"Lucas stop jumping at my throat okay. I want to apologize." Haley snapped back.

-"You mean like YOU jumped at Peyton's throat." Lucas accused.

-"I didn't know that you guys were dating Luke. If I had, I would have never…"

-"It doesn't matter Hales. You saw something, you assumed the worst, and you said what you thought. You didn't even think about what it would do to Peyton, or to me." He accused.

-"I just didn't want you to be making a huge mistake again, I" Lucas interrupted her.

-"DON'T. Don't ever refer to Peyton as a mistake again, you here me." He warned.

-"That's not what I'm saying Luke. All I'm saying is that"

-"I don't care. I don't think of any part of my relationship with her as a mistake and I'm not going to let you."

-"Lucas, cheating on Brooke was a mistake." Haley resonated with him.

-"Not breaking up with Brooke when I realised that I was still in love with Peyton, that was the mistake." He corrected.

"Why didn't you tell anybody if you didn't think being with her was a mistake." She questioned.

-"Because it's none of your business. I don't owe you anything."

-"Lucas, we're friends. I thought you'd tell me something like that."

-"And I thought you'd be happy for me. I guess we were both wrong." He retorted.

-"Luke"

-"All you need to know is that I stood by her then and I stand by her now." He affirmed as he started walking away.

-"Luke, what does it mean?" Haley was confused.

-"It means that you can't make things right with me, until you make thing right with her." He affirmed.

-"Lucas, I" Haley didn't want him to leave for Charleston with things being the way they were between them.

-"I'm going to make things clear Hales. Peyton's the most important thing in my life. I can't be friend with you if you treat her like you did today, I wont tolerate it. She deserves better than that. I thought you were her friend."

-"I am, but I'm also Brooke's friend now."

-"Speaking of, I would appreciate it, if you wouldn't tell Brooke. It's not your news to tell. Peyton's going to tell her when she's ready. In the meantime, you decide the way you want this to be. I gotta go, my mom's waiting for me." He walked back inside, but was stopped by his brother who spoke for the first time since they had arrived.

-"Luke, bro, want to shoot some hoops tomorrow?"

-Lucas stopped and turned to face his brother. He considered it. Nathan hadn't said anything mean to Peyton or about their relationship.

-"Hum, Sunday is usually the day Peyton and I spend on our own, but I'll see if she would mind being alone for an hour or two. I'll get back to you tomorrow morning alright."

-"Yeah, sure. By the way, I think you two looked good together."

-"Thanks, I'll call you tomorrow okay." He walked inside the house and close the door behind him, completely ignoring Haley who shot a dirty look to Nathan.

-"What? He's my brother, beside you know you were wrong." He said as he walked back to the car.

-Lucas walked into the living room and sat beside his mom.

-"So, which one you want to watch now." He clearly didn't want to talk about what had happened but that didn't stop his mom.

-"What happened Luke?" She asked him.

-"Nothing."

-"Luke, talk to me." His mom said.

-"I think I just ended my friendship with Haley." He said saddened.

-"Oh!"

-"I told her that if she couldn't make things right with Peyton, her and I were done." He looked at his mom expecting a retort of some kind. "What? You're not going to tell me that it was a mistake?"

-"No, I'm not. I think you did the right thing by standing by Peyton on this one. Haley was wrong and she needs to understand that."

-"So what if she doesn't?" He asked his mom.

-"Then, she isn't a good enough friend for you. People who really are your friends are going to understand how important Peyton is to you and respect that, like your friends in Charleston already did."

-Lucas gazed at his mom, somehow she could always make him feel better.

-"thanks mom."

-"No problem, that's what I'm here for. Now do me a favour and put the thriller in would you?" She smiled at him.

-"Sure thing", he got up and put the movie into the DVD player and sat back down.

-Peyton woke up the next morning in the same position she woke up in every weekends, next to Lucas. This morning the difference was that Lucas seemed to be still asleep. His arm was still tightly wrapped around her waist and she could feel his breath on her neck. She slightly turned her head to see that Lucas definitively was asleep. She smiled, it was the first time that that had happened, most of the time, he was always the first to wake up. She smiled when she felt him start to stir. She saw his surprise when he realised that she was already awake.

-"Hey sleepy head, late night?" She asked him.

-"Good morning. Yeah, the third movie ended pretty late. So, do I get a morning kiss?" He asked her as she turned around in his arms to face him.

-"Of course", she pressed her lips to his. "Good morning" she said before she went in for another kiss.

-When the two broke apart, Lucas tightened his hold on her waist and kissed her forehead.

-"So, there's something I have to tell you." He started. He had decided late last night that Peyton should know about his encounter with Haley.

-"Yeah?" she asked.

-"Haley and Nathan came over last night. You were asleep. We talked and I told Haley that she couldn't make things right with me until she makes things right with you. I don't know what's going to happen with her and I from now on. I also asked her not to tell Brooke, but I don't know what she's going to do. I just thought you should know."

-"Luke, you didn't have to. Haley's your best friend." Peyton told her boyfriend.

-"Not yesterday she wasn't. The way she talked to you. It wasn't right. I couldn't just pretend it was, just because she apologized to me. I love you, she needs to understand that and get over what happened last year."

-"I'm sorry Luke", Peyton didn't know what to say.

-"Don't be. You're what matters to me." He kissed her forehead again.

-"I still think it's sad that she reacted this way."

-"Yeah, I know. But hey, speaking of, Nathan seemed okay with us. He told me we looked good together. He asked me if I wanted to shoot some hoops with him this morning, I told him I'd ask you and call him back." He looked in her eyes.

-"You should go." She told him.

-"But today, is 'alone' day, remember" He made the quote signs with his fingers as he spoke.

-"I know, but he's your brother, and its only for an hour or two right. We'll spend the rest of the day together." She assured him.

-"Yeah, but what are you going to do while I'm gone." He asked her.

-"I don't know if you remember, but I do live here. I'll occupy myself. I'll spend time with your mom. Call him back." She said as she moved to get out of bed.

-"Whoa, what are you doing? There's no fire." He held her back.

-"No, but I'm starving. Come on, make me breakfast please." She took his hand and led him out of bed and toward the kitchen.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

-Karen and Peyton were in the kitchen cleaning up after Lucas had left to meet Nathan at the River Court.

-"So, what are you going to do this morning?" Karen asked the girl.

-"I was thinking that maybe you could use some help at the café." Peyton proposed.

-"Yes, of course I could use your help. We don't spend enough time together."

-Yeah, I know. I'm sorry."

-"hey, it's alright. I figured it'd be a little hard to explain." Karen reassured the girl. "Come on, we need to get going or we'll be opening late." She took Peyton's hand and the two of them walked out of the house.

-Meanwhile, Lucas got out of his car at the River court. He had to admit, he had missed Nathan. Him and Nathan had gotten closer before he had had to leave for Charleston and he hoped they could get that back.

-Nathan was already waiting for him on the court, shooting hoops.

-Nathan spotted him and walked in his direction. "hey man. I'm glad you called."

-"Yeah, me too." Lucas answered as he hugged his brother.

-"Luke, about you and Peyton", Nathan started

-"Can we please not do this now." Lucas asked his brother.

-"No, I wasn't going to say anything bad, I was just wondering"

-"What"

-"Don't you think that it would have been better to just you know, tell everybody right away. You know like ripping a band aid.", Nathan enquired.

-Lucas thought about it. "Yeah, actually that's what I wanted to do at first, but Peyton wanted to wait, and well she's the one who lives here. It would have been easy for me to go ahead and ask her to tell everybody, I wouldn't have been there to deal with the consequences, but it wouldn't have been fair. But now, after seeing Haley's reaction, I'm kind of thinking that Peyton was right to want to wait, you guys were suppose to be the supportive ones."

-"Luke, I" Nathan tried to explain.

-"It's alright. It's not like it's going to change anything whether or not you guys approve of us, we'll still be together."

-"I know Luke, and I just wanted to say that to me, as long as you are both happy, I totally approve. I think you guys are great for each other."

-"You know, you don't have to say this."

-"I know, but I mean it." Nathan reassured.

-"Thanks man." Lucas told his brother.

-"Yeah sure, so want to play?"

-"Sure." Lucas caught the ball, Nathan threw at him and started dribbling when his phone rang, he picked it out of his pocket.

-"Hey", he smiled.

-"Hey, I just wanted to see how things were going?" Peyton asked her boyfriend.

-"Fine, we were just starting. So what are you doing, you aren't bored are you?" He asked her concerned.

-"No, that why I was calling you actually. I'm at the café, with your mom. So you just have to meet me here when you're done alright."

-"Sure, I'll see you soon okay."

-"Take your time. I'll see you later. I love you."

-"I love you too. I'll be there in an hour or two." He said before they both hung up and Lucas went back to shooting hoops.

-Peyton hung up the phone to find Karen smiling at her.

-"You guys are very cute." Karen told her.

-"Hum, I", Peyton blushed.

-"Don't be embarrassed. It was a compliment. So, how is our boy?" Peyton smiled as she heard Karen refer to Lucas as 'their" boy.

-"Hum, he's fine. He's going to meet me here in an hour or two."

-"Great. I know you guys probably want to spend some time alone, but I was thinking we could have dinner together, all of us, before Lucas leave."

-"Yeah sure, I'd like that, and I'm sure Lucas will too." Peyton agreed.

-"Yeah, I miss him a lot you know, when he's in Charleston." Karen opened up.

-"I'm sorry." Peyton didn't know what else to say. It was her fault if Lucas wasn't in town as much as Karen would like.

-"No, I didn't say that to make you feel guilty. I'm sure that there is more keeping Lucas from this town than the fact that you are willing to go over there every weekend." Karen explained to the girl.

"Yeah, probably", Peyton agreed, but without really meaning it. She knew this had lasted long enough, Lucas should be able to come here and visit her and his mom anytime he wants without her being scared of who would see them.

-"Hum Karen, there is something I need to do. Would you mind if I leave for a little while?" Peyton asked Karen nervously.

-"Sure sweetie, go on. Are you sure you're alright?"

-"Yeah, I'll be back I promise." She turned around just in time to see Haley walking into the café. "I got great timing", she thought sarcastically as she walk toward the door.

-"Peyton, I" Haley started as Peyton approached her.

-"I was just leaving.", she said coldly as she passed by Haley without giving her a second look. She had more pressing concerns right now.

-"Hum, where is she going?" Haley asked Karen. Truth is she had not expected to see Peyton at the café, she had thought Peyton would avoid going out until Lucas was out of town, but she had been wrong. She also thought that apologizing to Peyton was going to be easy, but after seeing the blonde's attitude toward her, she was starting to have doubts.

-"I don't know. She only told me that she had something to do and that she'd be back soon." Karen answered truthfully.

-"Okay, I'll wait I guess." Haley said as she sat on a stool.

-Peyton stood awkwardly in front of the door going over what she was suppose to say. Truth is, she still had no idea, but she still somehow found the courage to knock on the door. As she waited for someone to answer, all she wanted to do was to run as far away from there as she could, but something stopped her. She kept seeing Karen's face when she told her how much she missed Lucas. She had to do this, for Karen and for Lucas, and even maybe for herself. The door finally opened.

-"Brooke!"

-"Peyton, what are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be out of town, you know wherever it is that you go?" Her best friend asked her sarcastically.

-"Hum, yeah. That's why I'm here actually. There is something I need to tell you, and you're not going to like it." Peyton said as she fidgeted with her hands,

-"Peyton, what it is?" Brooke asked concerned. This made it worst for Peyton, her friend was being so nice, but she needed to do this. She took a deep breath.

-"About those trips, hum, I don't really know how to do this so here it is, each weekend I go to Charleston." Peyton paused waiting to see if Brooke would make the link on her own.

-She knew it the moment the information registered with Brooke. Her expression went from concerned to perplexed.

-"Wait, Charleston, that's where"

-"Lucas lived, yeah", Peyton confirmed getting a little nervous at Brooke's expression.

-"So, you?"

-"Lucas and I are dating." Peyton confirmed again.

-Peyton watched as Brooke's expression got really cold. She was starting to think that this was going to go worst than she expected.

-"How long?" Brooke asked coldly.

-"Hum, three months." Peyton thought that the less she said the better, but obviously Brooke had other ideas.

-"So, your telling me that for the last three months you've been lying to my face?"

-"Brooke, I", Peyton stammered.

-"What, you woke up one morning and realised that things were going too well, you needed to screw everything up and start dating the worst guy you could actually date." Brooke was pissed off.

-"Look Brooke, it's not like that okay. Lucas, he started writing to me after he left, and after a while I"

-"Wait, WHAT? You've been in contact with him all summer and you never said anything. You really are a piece of work you know that." Brooke yelled at her.

-"No, it's not like that okay. We weren't in contact. He wrote to me, I never wrote back, not once, until I went down there to talk to him. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I was just"

-"Enjoying the fun of screwing around behind my back." Brooke spat at her.

-Peyton breathed in, this whole thing was starting to upset her, but she needed to stay calm, she couldn't break down in front of Brooke.

-"Brooke, it's not like that okay. I was so happy to have you back, but then Lucas started to send me those letters and after a while I realised that as glad as I was, something was missing. I wasn't happy. So I made a decision, I went over there and I told him how I felt and we've been dating ever since." Peyton explained.

-"Oh" That's so cute, and you know what, you're still a backstabbing bitch," Brooke spat at her.

-"I didn't go behind your back Brooke. You're not with him, you're not even into him. I just, I didn't know how to tell you." Peyton tried to explain,

-"So you just decided to avoid it altogether. Nice move."

-"Brooke", Peyton was starting to run out of explanations.

-"You lied to me Peyton. You knew Lucas was off-limit, and you went for him anyway. I thought our friend ship meant something to you, but I guess I was wrong. You really don't care do you?"

-"Brooke, of course I care okay, but I love him, and pretending that I didn't, it was hurting too much. I'm sorry that I lied to you. Really I am, if there is anything that I can do, to make you forgive me, I will do it." Peyton pleaded.

-"You know what, you made your choice. You made your choice when you decided to date him behind my back. I can't believe this. I gave you a second chance, and what did you do with it? You went behind my back, AGAIN. I hope you enjoy spending time with your BOYFRIEND, because he's the only one you'll spend time with. You and I are done. And believe me when I tell you this, I'll make sure that everybody knows how much of a backstabbing bitch you are." Brooke spat at .

-"I'm sorry", Peyton said sadly as Brooke stormed back into the house and slammed the door behind her.

-Peyton made it all the way to her car before she broke down and started crying. She just sat there her hands on the wheel as sobs rocked her body.


	15. Chapter 15

-Lucas and Nathan had been at the Rivercourt for awhile now and Lucas was surprised at how good of a time he was having, it felt as if he had never left. Suddenly, Nathan called out to him.

-"Hey Luke, was Peyton suppose to meet you here?"

-"No, I told her, I'd meet her at the café later, why?" He answered confused.

-"She's coming, look there's her car." He said pointing to the parking lot.

-They both watch as Peyton slowly made her way toward them. Lucas' happiness at her apparition quickly faded though as he took in her appearance. She visibly had been crying, her eyes were red and puffy and she was biting her bottom lip to control her emotions. Lucas' heart sank and he quickly went to her followed by a concerned Nathan.

-"Peyton!" Lucas caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. "What's wrong?"

-Instead of answering, Peyton flung herself into his arms and buried her face in his neck as sobs rocked her body once again.

-Lucas simply held her murmuring comforting words in her ears, while shooting Nathan a concerned look.

-After Peyton finally calmed down, she slowly pulled herself off his arms and looked at her feet embarrassed at her outburst. Lucas pulled her chin up to look into her eyes.

-"Peyton, what happened?" He asked worried.

-"Humm, I told Brooke. About us."

-To say that Lucas was surprised was an understatement. It was the last thing he had expected to hear. "Oh!" He forced the shock out of his voice. "Why now? I thought you weren't ready."

-"I was talking to your mom and she said something about how she missed you when you were in Charleston and I felt guilty. I mean it's my fault so I left and I went to Brooke." She finished going back to staring at her shoes.

-"It didn't go well did it?" He already knew the answer, it was pretty obvious, her face said it all.

-"No", she paused, "She freaked. She was so mad Luke. She yelled at me about how I had no right to be with you, and she was mad that I lied, and then she said that our friendship was over and she basically said that she was going to make my life miserable." She looked up at her boyfriend. "How could things turn so bad Luke?" She asked sadly.

-He had no idea how to answer that. "I don't know Peyt., but I'm sorry about Brooke." He really meant it, he had never meant for their love to cost Peyton her best friend.

-"Yeah, me too. What am I going to do?" she looked so lost. In that moment Lucas would have given anything to be able to take that pain away from her, even if it meant taking it on himself, but he knew that he couldn't, all he could do was to be there for her.

-"I don't know baby, but I'm sure Brooke will come around, eventually. Maybe she just needs some time."

-"I don't think so, you should have seen her Luke, she was so mad." She said sadly.

-"I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

-"Yeah, me too. I lost Brooke and now I'm probably going to loose everybody else."

-"No you won't." He caressed her cheek. "No matter what, you'll always have me." He said pressing his lips tenderly to hers. "I promise." He said softly when they pulled back.

-"And me."

-Lucas and Peyton both turned to face Nathan who had just spoken. At their surprised expression he elaborated.

-"I know that I didn't have the best reaction when I saw you two, I was surprised, but I've seen you together now, and I talked to Lucas and like I told him, I'm happy for you guys. No matter what Brooke does, I'll stick by you, you can count on me. I'm going to be there for you too, I promise." He said seriously. He felt like he had let them down and he wanted, needed, to make it right.

-"But what about Haley, Nates?" Peyton knew that Haley would side with Brooke, there wasn't even any questions about that, and she didn't want Nathan to be stuck in the middle because of her.

-"You're my friend Peyt. Haley's my wife, but that doesn't mean that she gets to decide who I'm friend with, and beside, you're dating my brother which makes you family." He smirked at her.

-"See, everything is going to be fine." Lucas tried to reassure her.

-"I'm going to go home." Peyton said after a few seconds, pulling back from Lucas' embrace.

-"Peyt", Lucas said hurt, he didn't want her to shut him out.

-"I just want to be alone for a little while." She tried to explain, not daring looking into his eyes.

-"Peyton, please don't…" Lucas started and as she finally looked at him, she knew why she had wanted to avoid it. He looked so hurt, seeing him like that broke her heart, she couldn't leave things like that.

-"I'm not pushing you away Luke, I swear. I just need to be by myself for a little while, just to assimilate everything." Her eyes pleaded with him, to understand, to let her go just for a little while, and he couldn't deny her that, not when she was looking at him like that.

-"Okay", he finally agreed. "I'll give you time, but not too long, please." He added sadly, not wanting to go back to Charleston that night without having spent time with her.

-"Thank you, I'll be at your house this afternoon I promise." She started to walked away and then stopped for a few seconds before quickly walking back and sweetly pressing her lips to his in a reassuring gesture. When she pulled back, she gave him a small smile. " I love you." She said seriously before walking away, giving Nathan a quick wave as she made her way back to her car.

-She felt guilty about pushing Lucas away, even if she knew it wasn't really what she was doing. She just needed time, to process everything, and she didn't want to burden Lucas on his last day here with her brooding, she figured it was for the best.

-Nathan looked over as his brother as they watched Peyton's car leaving the parking lot.

-"I'm sorry man."

-"Yeah, me too. I mean she did it for me, I know that. And now she'll have to deal with the fallout all by herself, it sucks. I wish that I could at least be here with her through this, but I can't even do that." He said angrily.

-"Peyton's going to be fine, Luke. Brooke threatened her but she probably won't do anything." He tried to reassure his brother, but the truth was he had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow at school and he knew that if Brooke truly wanted to hurt Peyton, she would. He just hoped that he could help her.

-"I hope so." He sighed, "this just sucks, it's all because of me and I won't even be here for her if things go bad. I wish I could just come back, but in the middle of the school year and everything, I doubt my mom and Keith would say yes, they made it clear that I had to stick with my decision until the end of the school year." He added sadly.

-"Well, in the meantime, I promise you that I'll look out for her, she'll be fine. Beside, you'll still see her on weekends, everything is going to be fine." Nathan said reassuringly, this time truly meaning it.

-"Thanks." Lucas said before walking away.

-"Hey Luke, where are you going?" Nathan asked as he saw his brother starting to leave.

-"Hum, I'm going to go to the café, spend time with my mom I guess, there's not much else to do."

-"Mind if I come." Nathan didn't want to sound pathetic, but he hadn't seen his brother in months and with what had just happened with Haley and Brooke, it could be a long time before he saw him again and he just wanted to enjoy it.

-"Yeah sure." And with that the two walked off and went into the café to see Lucas' mom, surprised at seeing her talking with Haley.

-"Hi Luke." His mom said happily seeing him walk in. It had been one of the things she missed the most, the random times they saw each other.

-Lucas ignored Haley as she tried making eye-contact with him and sat on a stool in front of his mom with Nathan sitting beside his wife.

-"You're early, Peyton's not back yet, she went out a little while ago." She explain expecting Lucas to wonder what she had done with his girlfriend.

-"I know, I just saw her. She's at her house now, she needed time." He added sadly.

-"What happened?" Karen asked concerned at her son's expression.

--"She told Brooke about us, and well let's just say it didn't go well." He explained.

-"Why?" Karen asked surprised. "I thought she wasn't planning on it, well not now anyway."

-"She felt guilty about you missing me, and me missing you and my friends here, so she just went and told her."

--"Oh my god, Luke I'm sorry. I never meant for her to feel guilty, I just…" Karen tried to apologized. She loved the girl like a daughter and she hated the thought that Peyton was hurting because of this.

-"I know, it's alright." He reassured her, after all it was much more his fault then hers, everything was his fault. The worst part was, he had no idea how to fix it.

-"How is she?" The question had come from Haley.

-Lucas' head swung back to meet her eyes for the first time since he had walked in, anger taking over.

-"She just lost her two best friends in two days, how do you think she feels." He yelled at her.

-"Luke, I didn't mean…" She tried to apologize again but it was too late, Lucas was already on his feet.

-"I don't care. I can't do this now. Mom, I'll see you at dinner." He told Karen, before bumping fist with Nathan.

-"Man, thanks for… you know."

-"I won't let you down." Nathan said seriously.

-"Thanks." Lucas repeated. "I'll talk to you later."

-With that he walked out of the café and headed for his house, hoping that Peyton would show soon. It was their last day together, he didn't want to spend it apart, it would defeat the whole purpose of him coming here in the first place. He just hoped she felt the same, about wanting to spend this day with him, he couldn't bare the idea of her shutting him out, even if it was only temporarily.


	16. Chapter 16

-Lucas was laying on his bed listening to music, and well brooding. He had been on this spot for more than an hour now, pondering everything and he couldn't help but think that somehow he should have seen it coming. Him and Peyton had been drama-free for way too long, something was bound to happen.

-Some part of him couldn't help but feel that coming to Tree Hill that weekend had been a mistake. If he hadn't shown up then Peyton wouldn't have feel obligated to tell Brooke about them and then she would have never bolted to deal with it on her own and shut him out. So all and all, it was all his fault.

-He was so focus on his brooding that he didn't even hear the door open and someone walk in until a voice pierced through the music.

-"If I didn't know better, I'd think that I was in my room." Peyton said casually lowering herself on the bed and resting her head on his shoulder. She felt a pang of guilt run though her when she felt him stiffen.

-"Luke." She pleaded, raising her head from his shoulder to look at his face.

-"Didn't think you'd actually show." Was his only answer as he kept looking at the ceiling. He knew he'd told her that it was okay, but he knew now that he had been lying, it really wasn't.

-"Luke, I…" She was stunned by his anger toward her, even though she figured she had it coming, she still didn't think he would be like this.

-"I thought you wanted this Peyt, I thought that when you had showed in Charleston it meant that you had finally chosen me. What, you changed your mind?" He said in a more angry tone than he had intended. He couldn't help it, some part of him was terrified that what had happened with Brooke had changed her mind about them. He sat up and put some distance between them, moving to the other side of the bed. He was afraid of not being able to stay strong if she was too close.

-"Of course I still want this. Where's that coming from Luke? You told me it was fine."

-"Well it wasn't. You ran Peyton." He accused, his voice hard but the pain evident in his eyes. She felt like shit for hurting him, that had been the last thing that she had ever wanted.

-"I didn't run Luke. I just needed some time on my own, I thought that you understood that."

-"Well I don't. I can't understand that the first thing that went through your head after you fought with Brooke was to shut me out."

-"Gosh Luke I didn't shut you out, I went straight to you."

-"Yeah, and then you ran."

-"I didn't run. God Luke why are you so mad?" She said exasperated.

-"Because it happened before Peyt. You're relationship with Brooke takes a hit and then you're out the door at the speed of light."

-"It's not like that Luke, it's…"

-"I thought you were done running. I thought that this time you were ready to fight for us. I guess I was wrong." He said in a dissapointed tone.

-The way he says it, the tone of his voice or simply the way he looks at her, something in what he just said broke her heart. Realization dawned on her, he thought that she was going to leave him again to save her friendship with Brooke.

-"I love you Luke, and I want to be with you, really I do." She tried to reassure him, moving closer to him and grabbing a hold of his hand.

-He looked from her, to their intertwined hands with a sad look on his face before speaking again.

-"Then why did you run Peyt? If you're so sure about us than why was your first reflex to run from me?" He asks not meeting her eyes but nonetheless keeping his hold on her hand.

-"It's what I do Luke. I was upset and like you said, it's a reflex. I get hurt, I run back into my shell, call it a defence mechanism if you want. But I'm here now, I stopped hiding and I'm here now." She takes his face in her hands to look deep into his eyes.

-"Why?"

-"Why what?" She asked a little confused. She had gotten lost in the blue of his eyes for a while and his question had made her crash down to reality.

-"Why did you come back if your first instinct was to run?" He looks into her eyes, trying to see the answer in the dept of her soul. See if what she tells him is really what she feels. Their own personal lie detector.

-"Because." She pauses and flashes him a grin. "Because even if a part of me wanted to run, to hide from this, the biggest part, the most important part, wanted to be right here in your arms."

-Finally, after what seemed an eternity for her, he finally smiled back at her. Flashing her his trademark Scott grin.

-"Really?"

-Gently she pushes his shoulders down so that he laid on his back and moved to her previous position with her head on his shoulder. He doesn't say anything, just relishes in the feeling of having her there, in his arms and to know that this is really where she wants to be.

-He wraps his arms around her and his breath catch in his throat when he hears her speak softly in his ear. He still can't believe what she can do to him without even trying.

- All the anger, all the insecurity, it's all gone. Having her in his arms right now, he knows exactly what he needs to know.

-He focuses all his attention on her words, trying his best not to get distracted by the urge he has to suddenly flip them over and have his way with her. Sure he doesn't mind waiting to have sex with her, she's definitively worth the wait, but he's still a guy, these kinds of thoughts hunt his mind regularly and now he's doing his best to push them back so he can hear what she's saying.

-"There's no place I'd rather be than just here." She says softly in his ear. Then she starts moving her fingers over his abdomen and his breath itch in his throat once again. He hears her laugh softly in his ear and he can't help but wonder if she knows just how much she's affecting him right now and apparently she does.

-She moves her head slightly so that she has a better angle and starts slowly kissing at his throat, delighted in the feeling of his hands on her, as he relaxes and starts to move them up and down her back, and the quiet moans that escape his lips.

-As she keeps her delicious ministrations to his neck, he can't help but think that she's upset about Brooke and that he should be there for her, but God she feels so good. Finally he gets a grip and gently pulls his head back so that he can look at her, he doesn't release his hold on her body though, he needs the contact.

-"Luke?" She questions wondering if maybe he's still upset with her.

-"I just don't want to take advantage of the situation. You just fought with Brooke and then this. I want you to be able to talk to me, and well as enjoyable as that was, it's not talking." He says smirking at her.

-"I'm pretty sure that in some language it is." She flirts, kissing his chest through his clothes since at the moment his head is unavailable.

-"Peyt." All his willpower is on this, keeping himself from doing what his body is begging him to do, let go.

-"Are you still angry with me?" She asks a little hurt at his pulling back, she thought that she had fixed that.

-He sees the insecurity and fear in her face and instinctively wraps his arms tighter around her.

-"No, we're good. For a second I just thought that maybe you…" He can't even think about what he'd do is she did change her mind and apparently neither can she.

-"No!" She denies a little more vigorously than originally intended. That is the last thing she ever wants him to think.

-"Good." He kisses her forehead before pulling back slightly again. "But it wasn't the reason why I pulled back. You just fought with Brooke and you're upset and I just don't want you to regret it later."

-She turns slightly to look into his eyes.

-"I could never regret this Luke." She believes it with all her heart.

-"I know, I just… When we do this I want it to be because you're absolutely sure that it is what you want, that it's completely about us and what we feel for each other." He explains kissing her forehead again.

-She's completely smitten, not believing how she could be so lucky, but at the same time wishing that he hadn't stopped them. She knew that it was probably not the right time, but God it had felt just so good, so right.

-She laughs quietly and he turns to look down at her questionably.

-"Do you always have to be such a good guy?" she jokes.

-"You know you love it." He smirks " and beside, last time I wasn't 'such a good guy' as you put it, it didn't end so well." He says remembering the whole mess with Brooke and then the Nikki debacle.

-"Yeah." She agrees tenderly, she's over all that stuff now. "It's just frustrating, I was really enjoying that." She jokes scanning his body up and down with her eyes.

-"Don't tell me." Lucas groans the memory of her lips and hands on him fresh in his mind as he lays there holding her.

-She laughs at his frustration. Things are good again.


	17. Chapter 17

-The next few weeks went relatively well, well apart from Brooke keeping good on her promise to try to make her life hell.

-Peyton was doing her best to avoid listening to what people said about her, after all she knew that Brooke was only starting these rumours because she was pissed off at her, but still, that was getting old.

-She had long stopped responding to Brooke's lame attempts at provoking her and now spent the majority of her days lost in her own little world.

-Lucas was taking it hard though. He had asked his uncle if he could come back to Tree Hill and like he had predicated both his mom and Keith had agreed that he needed to stick to his decision till at least the end of the year. He was very worried about her though and called repeatedly during the week to check how she was doing and no matter the amount of times she told him that she was fine, he never seemed to believe it. This probably had a lot to do with the fact that she really wasn't fine.

-Even though she had been telling herself for months that it was highly possible that her relationship with Lucas was going to cost her her friendship with Brooke, it didn't make it hurt less. Add to that the stunts that Brooke had been pulling on her the last few weeks and her life wasn't exactly great, but she had Lucas and to her he was worth all of it.

-Nathan was helping a whole lot though. He had kept to his word and was almost always nearby. Peyton thought it had probably a lot to do with the fact that people felt a lot less confidant about calling her a whore and whatnot when Nathan Scott, basketball superstar, was sitting beside her. They had both realised that early on and now Nathan almost never left her side. He was great, she was really grateful for his support, but she felt like she was keeping him from something.

-He spent so much time with her that it was starting to hurt his relationship with Haley since Peyton was still refusing to speak to her. She knew that she should have probably forgive or at least heard her out already, Haley had been trying to talk to her numerous times, but Peyton couldn't bring herself to. She was hurting already because of the thing with Brooke and the things that Haley had said still had hurt her pretty badly. She had expected more from Haley and that was the part that hurt the most. She had told Nathan numerous time to go spend some time with his wife and that she was going to be fine but he had refused saying that he had promised her to stick by her and that he was going to do just that.

-She walked in direction of the gym, she had cheerleading practice today. She hated cheerleading practices. Not that she had been too found of it before but now it had just become Brooke's favourite way of torturing her.

-She had been fighting with herself for weeks on whether or not she should just drop the squad and be done with it. It would have made everything so much easier but she wouldn't do it, wouldn't let Brooke tyrannize her into leaving the squad, she could get through this, well, at least she hoped so.

-It was almost Thanksgiving which meant a whole 4 days with Lucas and away from this crap and she couldn't wait. He was suppose to come into town at about six and from there he was going to go pick her up at her place so that they could stay for the weekend at Karen's, but before she could enjoy her weekend she was going to have to go through this hell again.

-She changed in silence. She had taken a habit to arrive just in time, that way Brooke would have less time to annoy her, so she was alone in the locker room which suited her perfectly.

-She walked into the Gym.

-"Hey Sawyer!"

-She turned around. "Hey Nate!"

-"You know, I keep hoping that some day you're just not going to show." He told her looking back at Brooke who had started giving Peyton the death glare.

-Peyton turned to see what he was looking at.

-"And what, miss on all this fun? No way." She answered sarcastically.

-"So, Lucas coming in tonight?" He asked her.

-"Yup, some time after six." She told him sitting down to start stretching and he sat beside her to stretch too. It was all part of the routine that they had developed since Nathan had known about her and Lucas. Her point, the less time she spent around Brooke, the better. She could hear Brooke and co. talk about them but she couldn't care less, she was used to it now.

-"Cool. Tell him to give me a call, we could hang out sometime." Him and Lucas had started to spend more time together when Lucas was in town, which he was relatively more often now. After that weekend, Peyton had decided that she really needed the break so she had been the one to drive to Charleston for a couple of weeks. It had been fun to hang out with Lucas and his friends and to be able to do so without having to hear people talking about her behind her back. After these two weeks, they had started alternating though and when Lucas was in town he always tried to spend time with Nathan and the two brothers were getting along great.

-"Sure." She finished stretching and got up with Nathan following closely behind.

-"Good luck." He told her nodding his head in the direction of the group of cheerleaders that were getting up too with ahead Brooke who was tapping her foot on the floor impatiently like she had been waiting for her for hours when Peyton had seen that she had still been stretching two minutes ago.

-"Yeah thanks."

-"Just holler if you need some help." He said walking to meet the rest of the team.

-"It's a gang of ninety pounds cheerleaders, I think I can handle myself, but Nate."

-He turned around.

-"Thanks."

-"You're welcome Sawyer." He smirked at her before reaching his team and starting practice.

-She sighed and walk to the rest of the cheerleaders.

-"Here we go again." She thought.

-"Sawyer, I know that you have a busy schedule and all, boyfriend stealing is so time consuming, but why don't you try to show up on time once and a while." Brooke spat at her.

-"Will do Brooke." She smirked.

-She knew that Brooke boiled with anger when she wouldn't respond to her jibes and that made her smile.

-"Don't you all stand there, let's practice." Brooke barked at the group when she saw that none of them were moving.

-Peyton rolled her eyes and followed the other girls.

-Two hours later, the boys were leaving the gym after basketball practice and the girls were still there. Brooke was in a terrible mood and had gone totally nazi on their asses.

-"We're not leaving this gym until you guys get this, so I suggest you get going otherwise we'll be here all night." Brooke yelled at them as she started the music again.

-Peyton saw Nathan who was walking out roll his eyes and mouth her a good luck and she smiled which attracted Brooke's attention.

-"Sawyer, what did I tell you about bringing your extra-curricular activities in here. Leave boyfriend stealing, or in this case, husband stealing, for your own time."

-Peyton rolled her eyes and waved to Nathan who waved back before leaving the gym.

-"You have no soul don't you? His wife is just there." Brooke said pointing at Haley who was a couple feet from Peyton. Brooke had oh so nicely forced Haley into joining the team 2 weeks ago when one of the girls had broken her ankle and god knows why Haley had accepted therefore making the situation that much enjoyable for Peyton.

-"What can I say, it's much more fun this way." Peyton mocked.

-"Come on, let's get moving we don't have all day." Brooke yelled for them to start the routine again when she heard Peyton's response to her attack.

-Nathan was about to get into his car and go home when he spotted his brother getting out of his car.

-"Hey Luke!" He ran to him. "What's up bro? Peyton told me you weren't suppose to get here before six."

-The brothers hugged before Lucas answered.

-"Yeah I know, I got out early and Keith was driving down too so we left earlier. Is she still in there?" He asked Nathan. He had already stopped by Peyton's house and she hadn't been there, his second guess had been the gym.

-"Yup, Brooke's in a bad mood. They could be there all night. So, want to go grab a bite in the meantime, Haley should call when it's over."

-Lucas looked worriedly to the door and then back to Nathan.

-"Huh no. I think I'm going to wait for her inside."

-"You sure, it's like a war-zone in there." Nathan joked.

-"Yeah, I'm going to go in." Lucas nodded.

-"Kay, I'm going to go too then, strength in numbers you know. Beside I don't really have much to do."

-"Thanks." Lucas smiled and the two brothers walked in direction of the gym.


	18. Chapter 18

-"So, this week any better?" Lucas asked his brother as the two walked toward the gym.

-"Not really. She's still going at it. If the girl wasn't being such a bitch, I'd be impressed by her tenacity."

-"Oh!"

-"Look man, she'll get over it eventually. It's not like she can hold onto this forever."

-"Have you met Brooke?"

-"Okay. Well she could, but what would be the point?"

-"Yeah, I just wish that there was something that I could do." Lucas said defeated as he pulled open the door and walked into the building.

-Meanwhile, in the gym, Peyton was starting to have enough. They had been at it for over two hours now and Lucas was going to be in town in less than one. She really wanted to get out of there.

-She sighed, looking at the clock once again.

-"Somewhere you need to be Sawyer?"

-She turned to face Brooke of was looking at her sneering.

-"Don't we all?" She rolled her eyes at the brunette and saw the other girls nod in agreement, obviously she wasn't the only one who was tired of all this.

-"Well if you guys stopped sucking then we all could leave, but until then, I'd cancel my plans Sawyer because you are not getting out of here anytime soon."

-"I wouldn't dream of it." Peyton deadpanned and went back to the routine.

-Lucas and Nathan walked into the gym just as the girls started the routine for the gazillion times and they heard Brooke yelling at them about lines or something like that.

-"Told you she wasn't in a good mood." Nathan told his brother as the two of them made their way further in the gym.

-Lucas spotted Peyton immediately. She was doing the routine but you could easily see from the look on her face that she was trying really hard not to smack Brooke and that made Lucas smile.

-The boys' attempt at going unnoticed for as long as possible went south as soon as one of the girl spotted them and nudged Haley.

-"Hey, your husband's here."

-At that all the girls turned to look in their direction and Nathan sent a shy wave to Haley who returned it before realising who was standing beside her husband and looking worryingly from Peyton to Brooke.

-The moment she saw him, she broke into a huge grin. She couldn't believe that he was here already, she had missed him so much. He grinned back and mouthed her an 'hi' that she returned happily.

-She had half her mind to break into a sprint and kiss him senseless but when she saw the murdering look that Brooke sent her way, she changed her plans. As much as she wanted to kiss Lucas, she didn't want Brooke to keep them all there forever just to piss her off. It was a better idea to stay just where she was for the time being.

-Brooke looked from Peyton to Lucas numerous times, daring Peyton to do or say something. She saw the grin on her ex-friend and the similar one that appeared on Lucas' face and somehow that pissed her off more. She glared at Peyton before turning to the boys.

-"No Visitors." She said coldly.

-Nathan and Lucas shared a look. "You're kidding right?" Nathan answered with a smile.

-"Practice's private."

-"Yeah right? Since when?" Nathan continued, seating himself on the bleachers like Brooke hadn't said anything while Lucas followed him with a nervous expression on his face. The last thing he wanted was to make things worst for Peyton by him being here. All he had wanted was to see her.

-"My team, my call." Brooke sneered.

-"Brooke." Haley tried.

-"Stay out of this tutor wife."

-"We're not leaving Brooke and you can't force us. I have as much a right to be here as you do."

-"But HE." She pointed to Lucas, who visibly cringed at her cold stare. "HE doesn't. He doesn't even go to school here."

-Peyton had to use all her self-control not to punch Brooke at that. She really didn't need to be reminded that Lucas wasn't attending their school, she was perfectly clear on that.

-"HE is my brother, and HER boyfriend." He pointed to Peyton and now it was Brooke's time to cringe. Obviously she didn't like to be reminded of that fact.

-Lucas was about to jump in, tell Brooke that he was going to leave, when all of a sudden she started the music again and yelled at the girls to start from the beginning. Apparently she had decided that she didn't mind them staying or that it just wasn't worth arguing about, they wouldn't know.

-For Peyton, that was even worst then before. It was bad already being here when she knew that she could have been somewhere else waiting to see her boyfriend, but for her to see him and not be able to be with him right now. She was pretty sure that she was getting tortured.

-She couldn't concentrate, could barely focus on the routine and Lucas' eyes on her weren't helping any. He barely took his eyes away from her, she could feel him looking at her with those piercing blue eyes of his and it was driving her crazy.

-"Sawyer, can you keep your hormones in check long enough to get this done or are we going to have to keep at it." Brooke threatened glaring at her.

-Peyton sighed, nodding at Lucas. "Sue me. It's not my fault if I have a hot boyfriend. Who here wouldn't want to just jump him right now anyway?" She joked and laughed when she saw some of the girls nod in agreement and the deer in the headlight look on Lucas' face.

-Brooke obviously didn't think it was funny and glared threateningly at Peyton who shrugged carelessly while the girls kept talking about Lucas which made Brooke seethe even more.

-"Enough. Again from the top." She yelled and they went at it again.

-"Get that look out of your face bro, you look like a fool." Nathan laughed at his brother who had this 'what the hell???' look on his face.

-"I can't believe she said that?"

-"I can't believe they think you're hotter than me?" Nathan answered with as much disbelief as his brother.

-"It's not funny."

-"What? If you ask me it was a pretty good comeback. Did you see the look on Brooke's face when the girls all started to check you out, it was hilarious." Nathan laughed.

-"Yeah, kind of." He laughed quietly. "So, are they always like that?" He referred to Brooke and Peyton.

-Nathan nodded. "Like I told you, it's a war zone. Well at least Peyton's fighting back. It would be worst it she just took it without saying a thing."

-"Yeah. I guess." Lucas agreed and the boys turned their attention back to the cheerleaders.

-About forty minutes of torture later, Brooke finally decided that they were decent enough and ended the practice after what to Peyton had felt like forever.

-As soon as Brooke had said the word, Peyton couldn't hold back anymore. She didn't care who saw, or what they said. She broke into a run toward her boyfriend.

-Lucas saw her coming and got to his feet hurriedly. As soon as she was in reaching distance he pulled her to him and brought her flush against him, he had missed her so much.

-Peyton didn't wait a second longer. As soon as she was in his protective embrace, she reached out, grabbed his face and pulled him down toward her, their lips colliding hungrily.

-It didn't matter where they were or who was watching, the two teenagers were completely focused on each other. Peyton wrapped her arms around his neck, carelessly playing with the hair at the back of his neck while he brought her even closer to him with one hand and caressed her cheek, as they continued kissing, with the other.

-Neither of them knew exactly how long they had been going at it when they heard a loud cough and embarrassingly pulled away, but nonetheless keeping their arms tightly around the other as they looked shyly at Nathan, who was rolling his eyes at them.

-"Hi!" Peyton turned to look up at her boyfriend.

-"Hey!" He grinned at her. "I missed you." He kissed her forehead.

-"I missed you too."

-"Really, because less than an hour ago you were almost offering me up to the highest bidder." He smirked when he saw her blush.

-"I wasn't offering anything, just conducting a survey." She grinned.

-"And what did the survey say?" He played along.

-"That you're sexy enough for me to keep you." She flirted.

-"Glad to hear it." He kissed the side of her face, his arms still tightly wrapped around her.

-"About all that." He pointing to the gym, "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked her worryingly.

-"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry. But I should probably go change. Wait for me?"

-"Always." He grinned down at her and she kissed him one last time before he released his hold on her and she left for the locker room.

-"He was here, she couldn't be any better."


	19. Chapter 19

-Her happiness at seeing Lucas and being in his arms again had her completely forgetting where she was or what she had been doing before they kissed but her entrance in the locker room refreshed her memory plenty.

-She was met by the group of girls looking at her expectantly and Brooke sending her the death glare once again. Brooke wasn't the first one to speak though, Rachel, the new girl, beat her to it.

-"So Peyton, that hottie back there, who is he?"

-"What, you haven't been getting the news bulletin? Lucas' one of the boyfriends I stole." She spoke sarcastically, walking to her locker.

-"Well you have good taste. He's hot." The new girl smirked and Peyton smiled. Her and Rachel had been getting along rather well, being both hated by Brooke gave them a lot in common.

-"Maybe but how long till he gets bored and cheats on you? Once a cheater always a cheater remember?" Brooke had spoken to no one in particular but Peyton heard her loud and clear and spun around to face her.

-"I'm not the one that bored him before Brookie." Peyton smirked. For 6 weeks now she had played passive to Brooke's storm of insults but now she had enough. If Brooke wanted to be a bitch so could she.

-"What's that suppose to mean?" Brooke seethed.

-"Guys, I don't think that…"

-"Stay out of this Haley. It has nothing to do with you." Brooke retorted before the brunette could attempt at stepping between the two girls.

-"Guys don't do this. If you do this now, you'll never be able to get passed it. Your friendship is never going to be the same again."

-"What friendship?" Peyton snapped acerbically. "The only friendship that I remember ended because miss narcissistic here couldn't accept that someone would rather be with me than her. That's the whole problem here isn't it Brooke? Lucas loves me, not you, me, and that pisses you off."

-"Shut up bitch." Brooke yelled as she moved to exit the locker room, but Peyton had had enough and followed her into the gym. They had delayed that conversation for months, now it was time that they finally have it.

-They walked back into the gym , with the rest of the girls following closely behind, nobody wanted to miss that argument. Brooke and Peyton were so focused on each other that neither of them were conscious that Lucas and Nathan had seen them and were coming toward them.

-"You're not walking away from this Brooke. You've been throwing insults at me for six weeks now, trying to make my life miserable, and I won't have it anymore. You lost. Get over it Brooke."

-"Get over it. You steal my boyfriend and I should just get over it. You're a whore."

-"Peyton, let's go." Lucas had seen the dangerous look in Peyton's eyes and he wanted to get her out of there before things got out of control but it didn't work. Peyton let him lead her away for a few seconds before spinning back and dragging Lucas back right in front of Brooke.

-"Get your facts straight Brookie. You go everywhere saying how much of a whore I am because I stole your boyfriend and everything but here's the thing and, everybody you might want to listen to this. Here's the truth. I never stole your boyfriend."

-"You, you…" Brooke was so angry now she could barely speak but it didn't matter because Peyton jumped in once again.

-"Sure Lucas and I did hook up behind your back but that's in no way boyfriend stealing, and by the way, that was a year ago. You can't go and forgive me and then hang it over my head that's not fair. Why don't you make up your mind once and for all"

-"I did forgive you. I gave you a second chance and what did you do? You did it again. You're a bitch Peyton and believe me on this, I'm not going to change my mind."

-"You're delusional." She scoffed and then spoke again. "Be angry for lying to you, fine, that would be legitimate and once again I'm sorry for that, but that's not your problem now is it? You're pissed at me because I got the only guy that you can't have. You're pathetic Brooke, Lucas doesn't love you, get over it."

-Silent tears were rolling down her eyes now, therefore blocking her vision and making her completely unaware of Brooke's approach until the brunette's hand collided with her face. She looked up in shock and then pushed Brooke away from her with both hands.

-"Don't you dare hit me again Brooke because next time I'm going to hit back." Peyton moved in considerably closer to the brunette. They were inches from each other now.

-"Is that a threat?"

-"You bet your ass it is." She glared at her and now that tears were clearing out she could see Lucas from the corner of her eyes. He looked pissed and she wasn't sure if it was at her or Brooke.

-She knew that she should have taken the high road and kept ignoring Brooke's digs at her but enough was enough. Her realization that Brooke wasn't angry at her for lying about Lucas but for simply being with him had totally changed things. Before she felt like she was in the wrong, she shouldn't have lied to Brooke, that was a fact, but other than that, Brooke had no reason to be like this with her.

-"Peyton, let's go." Lucas spoke calmly but she could feel the anger in his tone, so she followed him wordlessly, but their escape was thwarted by Brooke who was now in full battle mode. The two of them stopped when Peyton felt someone forcefully grab her arm and spin her around.

-"Get your hands away from her, NOW." Lucas was boiling with anger now and the tone with which he spoke to Brooke said it all. She almost looked scared when she released Peyton from her grasp, but that didn't last long and soon enough she spoke again, this time at Lucas.

-"Lucas Scott finally jumping in on the action. What, were you late to the meeting?" She sneered.

-"Brooke." He answered coldly and Peyton felt guilty, Lucas was acting so mature not letting Brooke trick him into a fight, she should have been able to do the same, but she had let Brooke get to her and now she felt stupid for it.

-"Peyt why don't you get your stuff, you can shower and stuff at my mom's." He ignored Brooke and turned to Peyton who nodded and was about to go back to the locker room when Brooke grabbed her arm once again. Peyton was trying to slip away without causing a fight but Lucas moved more quickly.

-He moved in and grabbed Brooke's arm hard, forcing her to let go of Peyton's arm, therefore freeing his girlfriend.

-"I thought I made myself clear Brooke. You don't touch her." He warned, his tone glacial.

-"Oh Lucas, are you sure you're satisfied in that relationship because by the way you just touched me, it looks to me like you're unsatisfied. There is so much sexual tension here. Peyton here hasn't been satisfying you has she?" She smiled mischievously at Peyton who was now livid with anger while Lucas himself was about to loose his cool. He looked enraged with the brunette.

-"Lucas, let's just go." Peyton tried to lead her boyfriend away from her ex-friend, doing all she could not to let herself loose her cool, which was particularly hard since she wanted more than anything to wipe that smirk from Brooke's face, with her fists preferably.

-"That's so awesome, Brooke's playing the slut card and here I thought you were so much better than everybody. I'm really disappointed Brooke." Rachel smirked.

-"Shut up. Why the hell are you here anyway? Don't you have some slutty things to do?"

-"You'd think that I'd missed you getting your ass handed to you? Never in a million years."

-"I'm not getting my ass handed to me, and certainly not by her." She sneered at Peyton.

-"Oh come on, she practically had you admit that the whole reason you're pissed at her is because sexy here loves her and not you. She totally won that round."

-"Shut up Rachel."

-"Is it true?" Lucas spoke coldly, his attention focused on Brooke but his hand firmly holding Peyton's. He had been so focused on Peyton before that he hadn't hear a word that was said but now, he had heard everything.

-"It's none of your business."

-"It is if you've been horrible to Peyton only because of some egotistical notion that if you can't have something than no one else can have it." Brooke was still not talking so Lucas continued.

-"I'm going to say this only once and I might and I might as well make an official announcement while I'm at it. I love Peyton, not anyone else, Peyton. I've always been in love with her and I'll always be. Brooke, I treated you badly and I'm sorry but I should have never started going out with you in the first place, my heart was never into it. So here it is. I'm sorry I hurt you, but it doesn't give you the right to be a bitch to Peyton."

-"Who are you to tell me what I do or do not have the right to do?"

-"Lucas let's just go, she's not worth it. Beside your mom and Keith are probably waiting for us."

-"Oh you guys are having a family dinner? Isn't that cute."

-"Come on, let's go get your stuff." Lucas told Peyton, completely ignoring Brooke's dig. He had said everything that he had needed to say, now he was done. He took hold of Peyton's hand and the two of them walked out of the gym and into the locker room, leaving an angry Brooke as the centre of attention.

-"Yup, definitively a lost." Rachel smirked.

-"Shut up bitch." Brooke snapped back.


	20. Chapter 20

-"I'm sorry Luke." Peyton turned to face her boyfriend as soon as they were in her car.

-"It's fine, I figure she had it coming."

-"Yeah, but I shouldn't have let her get to me anyway."

-"Hey, I'm not mad at you." He reached out and gently cupped her face, kissing her nose softly.

-"You sure, because you looked really mad in there." She still looked uncertain, remnants memories of his angry expression still floating in her brain.

-"I was never mad at you. I got pissed of when Brooke hit you. I just couldn't stand it, seeing her be like that with you. Did she hurt you?" He caressed her growingly bruising cheek with his thumb.

-"I'm fine." She smiled. God she loved the feeling of his fingers on her face. That was one of the things that she missed the most about not having him around all the time, the random touches of affection.

-"I'm sorry for all of this Peyt."

-"It's not your fault. I knew what was going to happen when I chose to acknowledge my feelings for you. I knew that Brooke was going to be pissed and I accept that, I love you."

-"I love you too. So, ready to go?" He started the car, after pecking her on the lips.

-"Sure." She smiled and Lucas drove them out of the parking lot.

-"So, you were pretty sexy out there." Lucas smirked, turning to her a few minutes after they had left the school.

-"You think?" She smiled back at him coyly.

-"Definitively. You have no idea what that did to me." He flirted, turning his head slightly so he could look at her, enjoying the opportunity to eye her up and down, paying special attention to her legs that were conveniently uncovered since she was still wearing her cheer uniform.

-"Oh!" She laughed softly. "Good to know." She blushed.

-"So, how are things in Charleston?" She asked, changing the subject. They were in a moving car, and things would get pretty dangerous if he kept looking at her like that.

-"Good." He smiled, knowing from the reddening of her cheeks what she was thinking. "Apparently, I'm broodier when you're not around, not so fun to be with." He smiled, rolling his eyes as he remembered the constant teasing of his friends on the subject.

-"I'm so sorry they have to put up with that." She joked, feinging seriousness and Lucas laughed.

-"I hope you are, it's your fault."

-"So, how long are you staying?" She changed the subject, the realization that he was to leave soon hitting her all of a sudden. That was the worst part, leaving each other at the end of each weekend.

-"Four days." He looked into her eyes and noticed the sadness. "But I intend to make the most of it."

-"Hey, but then there's Christmas vacation. We'll be fine." He continued, trying to put a smile back on her beautiful face. He hated the distance as much if not more than she did, but seeing her with this sad and resigned expression on her face made him want to reassure her. He would say or do anything if it meant getting that expression out of her face. It didn't matter that he was just as desperate on the inside as she was, her happiness was all that mattered to him.

-"I know, I just miss you."

-"Yeah, me too." He reached out, grabbing one of her hands in his and giving it a slight squeeze.

-"So, it looks to me like you embellished things a little." Lucas started a few minutes later, a smirk on his face.

-"What are you talking about?" She looked questionably back at him, having no idea what he was talking about.

-"I seem to remember you telling me repeatedly that things between you and Brooke weren't that bad, that she mainly ignored you." He smiled sideway at her and Peyton blushed.

-"Alright, maybe I embellished the picture a little."

-Lucas raised both eyebrows at her disbelievingly.

-"Alright, I embellished a lot." She smiled.

-"That's what I thought."

-"I just…I knew that if I told you all of it that you'd somehow find a way to blame yourself and that you would have been miserable over there because there was nothing that you could do. I didn't want to put you through that."

-"Peyt., I love you for trying to spare me from this, but I don't want you to. You and I, we're in this together. If Brooke is making things hard for you, I want you to be able to vent, or complain to me. I want you to be able to tell me these things. "

-"Alright, I can do that. There's not much to spare you from now anyway."

-"So the two of you, it's like this all the time?" He could pretty much guess the answer but he needed to hear it from her.

-"Lately, yeah. At first I thought that if I ignored her, that she'd get bored and leave me alone. Turned out, she's a lot more perseverant than I thought. Eventually, I had enough, I couldn't let her walk all over me any more and I just started firing back when she shot things at me and that's where things are at now."

-She had a sad, almost resigned expression on her face and Lucas hated it, he hated that Peyton had lost her best friend because he had screwed up. If he hadn't tried to forget his feelings for Peyton by being with Brooke only to realise later that it was futile, maybe they wouldn't be in this situation now, and maybe Peyton wouldn't be hurting.

-"I must have said that a thousand times in the last six weeks, but I'm really sorry Peyt." What else could he say? God, he hated that. Peyton shouldn't have to endure all the crap that Brooke was definately throwing at her when it was his mistakes that had placed them in this situation, it wasn't fair.

-"It's fine. Really. It's hard, but it made me realise, her acting this way with me, that maybe I thought that our friendship was stronger than it really was. I mean, it got so nasty so quick."

-"Yeah. Still sucks that you have to go through it alone."

-Peyton saw his expression darkened and quickly reached out to grab his hand.

-"Hey, I'm not alone. I'm not Luke. It's really hard during the day sometime, but I get home, I get home and I open my web cam and see you and then, then I remember how happy you make me and suddenly, everything that Brooke puts me through, it doesn't matter anymore. Just talking to you every night, it makes everything better Luke."

-"Yeah, but it's not the same right?"

-"But it's enough. For now anyway." Now it was her time to reasure him. She knew that he felt guilty, she could read it off of his face everynight when they talked. That was the main reason why she had embellished things when she told Lucas about the situation between her and Brooke. He was already feeling guilty, she didn't want to make it worst.

-"Maybe I could try talking to her. If you want me to. I could try to make her understand that it's my fault."

-"But it's not, not completely anyway. I made my part of mistakes in this Luke. Sure, Brooke's reaction hurt, but I expected it and now I have to live with it. I made my choice and I don't regret it. If you want to talk to Brooke, I'm not going to stop you, but I'd rather you didn't. Brooke's mad at me more than you and I don't want you to take all the shit that she'll throw at you only because you want to help me. She'll get bored, eventually."

-She tried to look certain, sure of herself in that affirmation. That was rather complicated as she was starting to doubt it even as the words left her mouth, but she didn't want Lucas to get involved. She knew he only wanted to help, but he would probably only make things worst.

-"Peyt..."

-"Brooke's mad at me for dating you Luke. I really don't think that it would help for _you_ to go over there pleading my case. Do you?"

-He sighed softly.

-"Yeah, probably not. I just... I hate not being able to do anything to help Peyt. I'm a guy, we're fixers. I hate that I can't fix this for you."

-Peyton smiled at him lovingly. God, she loved this guy.

-"I know, but I'm okay Luke. But if you really want to fix something, I'm sure that I can find something to break."

-Lucas looked sideway at her and laughed.

-"I'm sure you can. Huh Peyt?" He asked after a few seconds and she looked back at him.

-"Thanks for this."

-"Anytime." She smiled, and for the rest of the ride to Karen's house, they remained silent, just enjoying each other's presence.


End file.
